published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

published_or_final_version / Computer Science and Information Systems / Master / Master of Philosophy

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The application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is changing the organization and delivery methods of higher education. The pedagogical and socio-economic forces which have driven higher learning institutions to adopt and incorporate ICTs in teaching and learning include greater information access and better communication and learning. ICTs are being used to support pedagogic practices that provide learning environments that are more learner, knowledge and assessment-centered. Universities are thus responding to the many changes and adjusting to new demands and advancements through the incorporation of ICTs into the various aspects of their operations. In light of the above, a study to investigate the use of ICTs for teaching and learning by academic staff and postgraduate students in the Social Science Schools of the Faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Sciences (HDSS) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Pietermaritzburg, was carried out. The study's conceptual framework was drawn from Vygotsky's constructivist theory of learning which suggests that learning is achieved by the active construction of knowledge supported by various perspectives within meaningful contexts. Such meaningful contexts include the use of ICTs as tools that facilitate constructivist teaching and learning. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. The former was served by the use of a survey. Two questionnaires (one for academic staff and the other for students), administered by the researcher, were used as the main data collection tools. The questionnaires contained both closed and open-ended questions. In addition to the questionnaires, a focus group interview for postgraduate students was used to collect qualitative data. To increase the reliability and validity of the data collection tools, the researcher pre-tested the questionnaires before final distribution to the study population. Sampling followed a simple random stratified method for the survey and purposive sampling for the focus group interview. The target population for the study was academic staff and postgraduate students selected from the Faculty of HDSS. A total of 173 postgraduate students responded which yielded a response rate of 92% and all 53 academic staff responded which yielded a response rate of 100% for the academic staff. Data from the survey questionnaires was analyzed using SPSS® version 15.0 for Windows. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the open ended questions obtained from the focus group interview. The findings indicated that a majority of academic staff and postgraduate students used ICTs for teaching and learning. Furthermore, the study identified various ICT hardware and software which were available at UKZN for teaching and learning and whether staff and students used these ICTs to support their teaching and learning. The study’s findings showed that a number of problems were experienced when using the ICTs for teaching and learning. The top three problems experienced were insufficient numbers of computers; slow network connections and poor support from the technical staff. Apart from the problems encountered when using ICTs for teaching and learning there were benefits to using the ICTs such as: ICTs facilitated communication and simplified interaction between academics and students: accessibility to learning materials was improved for students while academics considered that ICTs improved student’s skills. Lectures that could be delivered online were a positive benefit for academics. Furthermore, ICTs had enabled students to use computers more effectively to support their learning. Recommendations and suggestions to improve the use of ICTs for teaching and learning in general were made by the academic staff and the postgraduate students with regard to the findings and the literature reviewed. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

p. 87 missing from manuscript. / This study investigated the strategie or task-specific planning skills of students of varying abilities using intelligent eomputer-assisted instruction (ICAI). The sample eonsisted of 39 boys and girls in grades four to six attending summer programs for the gifted and non-gifted in the Greater Montreal area. They were divided into three eomparison groups: a high-ability-gifted HG) group (n=13), a high-ability-not-identified-as-gifted (HNG) group .(n=11), and an average-ability (A) group (n=15). Each student created three adventure plans with an ICAI called SCARABEE (Système de Conception Assistée de Récits d'Aventure dans le But d'Enseigner l'Écriture) for three, thirty-minute sessions over an observation period of two weeks. Results of this research demonstrate no statistically significant differences among ability groups HG, and on the two levels of strategic planning skills. The good problem solving since higher levels of strategic planning could also involve other variables which remain to be investigated. / Cette recherche étudie les techniques de planification stratégique chez des enfants d'habilité moyenne ou supérieure utilisant un logiciel d'enseignement intelligent assisté par ordinateur (EIAO). Trente-neuf garçons et filles du deuxième cycle du primaire (4e à 6e année) inscrits dans des programmes d'été de la région du Grand Montréal, ont été choisis et répartis en trois groupes: le premier, d'habileté-supérieure-identifiés doués (n=13); le deuxième, d'habileté-supérieure-non-identifiés doués (n=11);et le troisième, d'habilité- moyenne (n=15). Chaque trois scénarios d'aventure à l'aide de SCARABEE (Système de Conception Assistée de Récits d'Aventure dans le But d'Enseigner l'Ecriture) pendant trois sessions de trente minutes pour une durée d'observation de deux semaines. Les résultats indiquent que les trois groupes de sujets ne diffèrent pas de façon significative sur les deux niveaux de techniques de planification stratégique. Ces données suggèrent que le niveau d'habileté ne serait pas une variable déterminante dans la résolution de problème avancé de techniques de planification stratégique impliquerait d'autres variables qu-il reste ci explorer.

The central question in this thesis is: In what ways, if any, can communications technology be used to extend and integrate the learning and intellectual engagement of teacher education students? Underpinning this question is an assumption that there is a need to take action by way of investigating technology practices in teacher education programs that are educationally defensible. More particularly in the context of teacher education there is a need to examine ways in which the technology can be used as a medium for integrating disparate parts of teacher education and for broadening channels of professional communication amongst those with an interest in teacher education. In order to respond to the question a number of technology practices have been established in one elementary teacher education program. In this thesis three projects, representative of these practices, are presented. The three projects set in an Education Studies course, a Language Arts Education course and a Mathematics Education course respectively, used either web-based or multimedia technology as a medium through which students could communicate, investigate and generate ideas related to the course goals. The analysis of the projects was concerned with both the means by which students engaged in the technology related tasks and the ways in which they represented their understandings. The data drawn on to conduct this analysis included the electronic texts produced by students, the comments and feedback on each project provided by students and instructors and my own observational notes. The key argument made in the thesis is that the technology served as 1. a medium for inquiry and 2. an object of study. In this respect student teachers were able to extend their engagement by making connections between people, resources and experiences in ways not normally possible and by learning about educational technology in ways that were practical, creative and critical. The conditions underpinning these extensions to student teachers' learning were collaborative writing, public audience, access to electronic resources and a research infrastructure.

Despite the growth in the size and acceptance of distance education, there have been persistent criticisms of this form of education because it often fails to provide for interaction among students and between students and instructors. Without this, it is suggested, distance education can only be an inferior imitation of the best face-to-face education because learners are unable to clarify and challenge assumptions and to construct meaning through dialogue. Some critics believe distance education's inability to reproduce a critical dialogue among students and between students and instructor can be addressed through the use of two-way communication technologies such as text-based, asynchronous (i.e., not in real time) computer conferencing. Appropriately-designed computer conferencing, it is argued, will facilitate interaction among students and between the instructor and students thus making distance education more appropriate for the higher-level cognitive goals of college and university education. At the same time, using this' technology will retain the flexibility of time and place-independence that is characteristic of distance education. The literature on educational computer conferencing is replete with references to its potential to create a new paradigm of education characterized by interactive group knowledge-building and critical thinking, but there are few empirical studies that have substantiated this view. Little is known about how and why learners participate and what factors may affect their participation. Similarly there has been little empirical study of the quality of computer conferencing interaction. This case study of a university-level course delivered by computer conferencing was designed to address these issues. It was guided by two purposes: 1) to determine whether the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of participation in this online course were consistent with key aspects of the new paradigm of networked learning as articulated in the literature, that is, if students were actively participating, building on each others contributions and thinking critically about the discussion topics; and 2) to determine what factors affected student participation and critical thinking. The results of this study suggest that some of the claims about the potential of this technology to transform conventional and distance education may be overstated. The emergence of a dynamic and interactive educational process that facilitates critical thinking was shown to be contingent on a variety of factors. The results suggest, however, that with the appropriate course design, instructor interventions, content, and students, computer conferencing can be used for these purposes and should be given serious consideration by distance educators as a way of facilitating interaction and critical thinking in distance education.