eLearning is rapidly spreading into the high school learning environment. This research attempts to find desirable and workable features of an eLearning resource that would sustain high school learning communities. The basis of the instrumental case study was the Cambridge International Examination course offered by an eLearning institution over a period of two and a half years. Data was gathered by means of various questionnaires, focus groups, interviews and quantitative analysis of computer log files of activity. Content analysis was performed by comparing research data with information (such as various eLearning models) obtained from the literature review. Similarities and differences were found in the way eLearning is used by high school learners and teachers versus university students and lecturers. Desirable and workable features were identified and the reasons for these explored. A number of suggestions are made that would contribute to sustaining eLearning for high school learners. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Information Science / unrestricted

Background: Smartphones and related applications are increa singly gaining relevance in the healthcare domain. We previously assessed the demands and preferences of medical students towards an application accompanying them during a course on general practice. The current study aims to elucidate the factors associated with adop tion of such a technology. Therefore we provided students with a prototype of an application specifically related to their studies in general practice.

Kooperative Medien sind Softwaretools und Netzdienste, die sowohl synchrone und asynchrone Kommunikation unterstützen als auch den Aufbau virtueller Gemeinschaften ermöglichen. Weblogs sind vor diesem Hintergrund als eine Form web-basierter kooperativer Medien zu verstehen. Solche Medien spielen bei der Gestaltung neuer Lehr- und Lernformen für die Lehre an Hochschulen eine immer stärkere Rolle. In Studienfächern wie Informatik und Wirtschaftsinformatik treten sie nicht nur als Unterrichtsgegenstände auf, sondern können darüber hinaus auch als Organisations- und Kooperationswerkzeuge sowie zur Reflexion des Medienpotenzials genutzt werden. Anhand eines Unterrichtsversuchs mit Weblogs versucht der Beitrag eine Annäherung an diese didaktische Aufgabenstellung, zugespitzt auf die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen von Weblogs in der Hochschullehre. Daneben werden Forschungsfragen, Reichweite und Grenzen des kooperativen Mediums Weblog in Bezug auf die didaktische Einbindung und die Entwicklungs- und Gestaltungsperspektiven kooperativer Medien diskutiert.

Open Source Software (OSS) ist immer mehr verbreitet und anerkannt. Sie zeichnet sich insbesondere durch die Offenlegung des Quellcodes und die Möglichkeit der freien Verwendung und Weiterverarbeitung aus1. Auch im Bereich des eLearning2 spielen Open Source Lösungen zunehmend eine große Rolle, wobei sich vor allem in Universitäten zahlreiche Communities herausgebildet haben.

Aus der Ausgangssituation. "In den letzten Jahren wurden dem eLearning-Markt überproportionale Wachstumsraten durch die verschiedenen Marktanalysen vorhergesagt. Die ersten Prognosen sind nicht eingetreten. Trotz der allgemeinen Vorsicht werden auch in aktuelleren Marktanalysen höhere Ausgaben für eLearning in den Unternehmen prognostiziert (vgl. z. B. DETECON 02, S. 6, WANG u. a. 02, S. 230 und BENTLAGE u. a. 02, S. 131f.). Je nach Studie ist mit einem weltweiten eLearning-Marktvolumen von ca. 20 bis 40 Mrd. Dollar für 2004 zu rechnen (GRAUMANN u. a. 03, S. 422). Weiterhin kann bei der Betrachtung der wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse zu eLearning, sowohl aus methodischdidaktischer als auch aus technologischer Sicht, von positiven Rahmenbedingungen ausgegangen werden."

Purpose – This paper is part of an extensive action research project on learning analytics and focuses on the analysis criteria in Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) settings. We analyse how the efficiency of virtual learning facilitation can be increased by (semi-) automated learning analytics. Monitoring items are the starting point that enable the learning facilitator to identify learning problems and deduce adequate actions of intervention. However, the sophisticated media-based learning environment does not allow monitoring of vast amounts of items and appreciate the learning processes simultaneously. Design/methodology/approach – This paper fulfils the sub-goal of selecting and prioritising monitoring items for e-collaboration. The procedure is split into two Research Questions (RQ). A specification of the monitoring items will be compiled by a comparison and a consolidation of the already existing monitoring sheets. Therefore, we interviewed the responsible docents on differences and similarities. Additionally, we coded each monitoring item inductively due to their monitoring objective. As a result, we reduced the monitoring sheets to 40 final monitoring items (RQ1). In order to prioritise them, the learning facilitators scored the relevance and the complexity of the collection and assessment of data using a questionnaire. The analysis focused on differences in understanding of relevance and complexity. Further, we identified the highest scored monitoring items as well as scores with leverage potential. Afterwards we prioritised the items based on the applied analysis (RQ2). Originality/value – While previous studies on learning analytics were mostly driven by the educational data mining field and as a consequence had a technological focus. This paper is based on an existing pedagogical concept of VCL and therefore prioritises monitoring items to be implemented as selected learning analytics. Hence, it is guaranteed that the analysis is related directly to the learning content. Practical implications – This research paper achieved two outcomes: Firstly, a courseindependent standardised monitoring sheet. Thus, the reduction of the monitoring items should simplify and objectify the observation and clarify the performance review. Secondly, an insight into the relevance of each monitoring item had been delivered to the facilitators and provides significance on the quality of e-collaboration. Furthermore, the complexity score shows the necessary effort for data collection and assessment while the combination of relevance and complexity scores leads to the prioritisation of the needs of (semi-) automated learning analytics to support the learning facilitation.

This thesis proposed solutions to some shortcomings to current eLearning architectures. The proposed DeLC architecture supports context-aware and adaptable provision of eLearning services and electronic content. The architecture is fully distributed and integrates service-oriented development with agent technology. Central to this architecture is that a node is our unit of computation (known as eLearning node) which can have purely service-oriented architecture, agent-oriented architecture or mixed architecture. Three eLeaerning Nodes have been implemented in order to demonstrate the vitality of the DeLC concept. The Mobile eLearning Node uses a three-level communication network, called InfoStations network, supporting mobile service provision. The services, displayed on this node, are to be aware of its context, gather required learning material and adapted to the learner request. This is supported trough a multi-layered hybrid (service- and agent-oriented) architecture whose kernel is implemented as middleware. For testing of the middleware a simulation environment has been developed. In addition, the DeLC development approach is proposed. The second eLearning node has been implemented as Education Portal. The architecture of this node is poorly service-oriented and it adopts a client-server architecture. In the education portal, there are incorporated education services and system services, called engines. The electronic content is kept in Digital Libraries. Furthermore, in order to facilitate content creators in DeLC, the environment Selbo2 was developed. The environment allows for creating new content, editing available content, as well as generating educational units out of preexisting standardized elements. In the last two years, the portal is used in actual education at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, University of Plovdiv. The third eLearning node, known as Agent Village, exhibits a purely agent-oriented architecture. The purpose of this node is to provide intelligent assistance to the services deployed on the Education Pportal. Currently, two kinds of assistants are implemented in the node - eTesting Assistants and Refactoring eLearning Environment (ReLE). A more complex architecture, known as Education Cluster, is presented in this thesis as well. The Education Cluster incorporates two eLearning nodes, namely the Education Portal and the Agent Village. eLearning services and intelligent agents interact in the cluster.

Este trabalho apresenta uma ferramenta para conferência de áudio 3D (espacial) implementando conceitos de Realidade Aumentada (RA). O objetivo desta ferramenta é aprimorar a sensação de presença e melhorar a interatividade entre seus participantes remotos, por meio de benefícios proporcionados pela utilização de técnicas de áudio espacial (implementadas em avatares de áudio) pela: maior facilidade de concentração e atenção em um único participante e pelos efeitos positivos na memorização dos conteúdos pelos participantes como conseqüência da melhor inteligibilidade e compreensão. A motivação desta implementação reside em sua utilização como ferramenta de comunicação síncrona no ambiente de aprendizagem eletrônica Tidia-Ae, auxiliando na realização de atividades colaborativas e, possivelmente, nos processos de ensino e aprendizagem à distância. A ferramenta implementada foi integrada ao sistema Tidia-Ae e os resultados dos experimentos realizados demonstraram sua efetividade com relação às melhorias proporcionadas pelo processamento de áudio espacial. / This work presents a 3D (spatial) audio conference tool implementing Augmented Reality (AR) concepts. The main intent of this tool is to enhance the sense of presence and increase the interactivity among remote participants, by implementing spatial audio techniques in audio avatars. The use of such techniques facilitates focusing the attention on anyone specific participant of the conference and enables a positive effect on memory retention, resulting in a better intelligibility and comprehension. The motivation of this implementation lies on its appliance as a synchronous communication tool within the Tidia-Ae e-Learning system, thus aiding on collaborative activities realization and, possibly, on teaching and learning processes. The results of the experiments showed the effectiveness provided by the spatial audio processing when applied in such environment.

<p>Doktorska disertacija razvija nastavni model za elektronsko učenje preko Interneta namenjen razvoju informaciono-komunikacionih kompetencija nastavnika u osnovnim i srednjim &scaron;kolama i drugih zaposlenih u obrazovanju.</p><p>Informaciono-komunikacione kompetencije nastavnika i drugih zaposlenih u obrazovanju su veoma važne za obrazovni i ekonomski sistem i potrebno je omogućiti njihovo sticanje, unapređivanje i upotrebu u obrazovanju zbog njihovog uticaja na promenu stavova prema obrazovnoj tehnologiji.</p><p>Za potrebe doktorske disertacije urađeno je pedago&scaron;ko istraživanje u novembru 2014. godine, sa dve grupe ispitanika, kontrolnom i eksperimentalnom grupom. Istraživanje je u potpunosti sprovedeno preko veb portala: www.azomjns.com/moodle.</p><p>Uticaj predloženog nastavnog modela za e-učenje &quot;5 koraka&quot; na razvoj kompetencija kod zaposlenih u obrazovanju za kreiranje multimedijalnih prezentacija za nastavu, pokazao je bolje rezultate u odnosu na uticaj klasičnog modela za e-učenje &quot;Isporuka sadržaja&quot;.</p><p>Ponuđeni nastavni model &quot;5 koraka&quot; može se primeniti na različite uzrasne grupe i nastavne predmete &scaron;to otvara mogućnosti za dalja istraživanja.</p> / <p>The thesis develops a model of online e-Learning for improving information and communication competencies&nbsp; of teachers and other employees in primary and secondary education.</p><p>Information and communication competencies of employees in education are of great importance to the educational and economic system. We must enable their acquisition, improvement and use in education because they change attitudes towards educational technology.</p><p>For this purpose, the main pedagogical research was carried out in November 2014, with two groups of respondents: a control and an experimental group. The research was conducted entirely online through the web portal: www.azomjns.com/moodle.</p><p>The impact of the proposed &#39;5-step&#39; teaching e-learning model on the development of competencies of employees in education in creating teaching multimedia presentations showed better results than the classical model of e-learning, viz. &#39;learning by distributing&#39;.</p><p>The offered &#39;5-step&#39; teaching model can be adapted to different age groups and subjects, which opens up possibilities for further research.</p>

Este trabalho apresenta uma ferramenta para conferência de áudio 3D (espacial) implementando conceitos de Realidade Aumentada (RA). O objetivo desta ferramenta é aprimorar a sensação de presença e melhorar a interatividade entre seus participantes remotos, por meio de benefícios proporcionados pela utilização de técnicas de áudio espacial (implementadas em avatares de áudio) pela: maior facilidade de concentração e atenção em um único participante e pelos efeitos positivos na memorização dos conteúdos pelos participantes como conseqüência da melhor inteligibilidade e compreensão. A motivação desta implementação reside em sua utilização como ferramenta de comunicação síncrona no ambiente de aprendizagem eletrônica Tidia-Ae, auxiliando na realização de atividades colaborativas e, possivelmente, nos processos de ensino e aprendizagem à distância. A ferramenta implementada foi integrada ao sistema Tidia-Ae e os resultados dos experimentos realizados demonstraram sua efetividade com relação às melhorias proporcionadas pelo processamento de áudio espacial. / This work presents a 3D (spatial) audio conference tool implementing Augmented Reality (AR) concepts. The main intent of this tool is to enhance the sense of presence and increase the interactivity among remote participants, by implementing spatial audio techniques in audio avatars. The use of such techniques facilitates focusing the attention on anyone specific participant of the conference and enables a positive effect on memory retention, resulting in a better intelligibility and comprehension. The motivation of this implementation lies on its appliance as a synchronous communication tool within the Tidia-Ae e-Learning system, thus aiding on collaborative activities realization and, possibly, on teaching and learning processes. The results of the experiments showed the effectiveness provided by the spatial audio processing when applied in such environment.