This study addresses faculty perceptions of how the features of existing learning management systems (LMS) currently and potentially enhance their assessment of student work. Within this type of technology, a selection of a couple of main systems, namely Blackboard and Moodle, was examined. A critical analysis of the exiting literature on the adoption of assessment features within the classrooms for formative purposes is presented. A mixed methods research design was used in order to evaluate the effectiveness of formative assessment tools in LMS. A survey was electronically distributed to professors in two mid-sized universities in Eastern Ontario, Canada to gather data in the first phase. The second phase of data collection entailed interviewing a subset of the professors after analysing the first set of data. Additional analysis was conducted in order to identify the factors that can elevate the perception and use of LMS as major tools for formative assessment. Results revealed that professors are generally struggling with the existing tools in LMS and perceive them to be only marginally effective to conduct formative assessment to the extent that they desire, especially at higher order level. They also consider the existing number of tools as being limited. Recommendations were made to improve the design of assessment tools in LMS for formative purposes. Training was identified as the main factor to increase the use of these tools along with receiving institutional support, extra time and technical help in integrating the new tools in their teaching.

The existing Learning Management System (LMS), \esTracer", from En-tergate company has been updated to be compliant with Sharable ContentObject Reference Model (SCORM). By following the SCORM standard, newand existing packages of course materials could be imported and exportedto SCORM compliant systems. In the test, one package from ADL is usedfor importing and presentation. The implementation only applies to \es-Tracer" LMS, but the methodology is general and could be used in otherLMS as well. This project is implemented using ASP.NET MVC framework.ASP.NET MVC framework is one great framework, which enables developersto stand on a high level to see the whole picture. Future work needs to bedone to make \esTracer" complete SCORM compliant.i

Tese de mestrado. Multimédia. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto. 2009

<p>Dagens utveckling inom distansutbildning har lett till att det blir allt viktigare att välja en lärplattform som är anpassat till företagets eller organisationens verksamhet. Nya effektiva utbildningsmetoder som komplement till den traditionella utbildningen möjliggörs av den nya tekniken där e-learning har en framträdande roll. E-learning gör att lärandet inte längre är beroende av ett fysiskt klassrum och en specifik tidpunkt utan utbildningen blir mer flexibel, interaktiv samt fokuserar mer på själva på lärandet.</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att kartlägga hur ett LMS bör vara utformat vad det gäller design, funktion och användbarhetsfaktorer för att underlätta val av lärplattform (LMS). Studien har visat att det designmässigt är lämpligt att följa vedertagna författares riktlinjer – oavsett om det gäller LMS eller design av en funktion i ett LMS. När det handlar om användbarhetsfaktorer har studien visat att vissa val av funktioner kan vara avgörande.</p><p>De slutsatser som framkommit i vår studie är att en organisation eller ett företag bör välja ett LMS som är utbyggbart. Efterhand som företaget eller organisationen utvecklas inom sitt LMS, efterfrågas fler funktioner och möjligheter. Det har visat sig att LMS som följer en internationell standard, SCORM – vilket möjliggör återanvändning av material samt överföring mellan olika LMS, är att föredra. </p><p>Vidare visade studien att framtidens LMS måste anpassas till kommande behov både vad det gäller möjligheter för den enskilde användaren att göra personliga inställningar samt att kunna kommunicera via exempelvis chat, forum, e-post, webbkamera eller liknande. Vidare måste fokus ligga på att främja lärandet, att välja ett LMS med potential att växa och personalisera tror vi främjar lärandet i positiv riktning.</p>

Dagens utveckling inom distansutbildning har lett till att det blir allt viktigare att välja en lärplattform som är anpassat till företagets eller organisationens verksamhet. Nya effektiva utbildningsmetoder som komplement till den traditionella utbildningen möjliggörs av den nya tekniken där e-learning har en framträdande roll. E-learning gör att lärandet inte längre är beroende av ett fysiskt klassrum och en specifik tidpunkt utan utbildningen blir mer flexibel, interaktiv samt fokuserar mer på själva på lärandet. Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att kartlägga hur ett LMS bör vara utformat vad det gäller design, funktion och användbarhetsfaktorer för att underlätta val av lärplattform (LMS). Studien har visat att det designmässigt är lämpligt att följa vedertagna författares riktlinjer – oavsett om det gäller LMS eller design av en funktion i ett LMS. När det handlar om användbarhetsfaktorer har studien visat att vissa val av funktioner kan vara avgörande. De slutsatser som framkommit i vår studie är att en organisation eller ett företag bör välja ett LMS som är utbyggbart. Efterhand som företaget eller organisationen utvecklas inom sitt LMS, efterfrågas fler funktioner och möjligheter. Det har visat sig att LMS som följer en internationell standard, SCORM – vilket möjliggör återanvändning av material samt överföring mellan olika LMS, är att föredra. Vidare visade studien att framtidens LMS måste anpassas till kommande behov både vad det gäller möjligheter för den enskilde användaren att göra personliga inställningar samt att kunna kommunicera via exempelvis chat, forum, e-post, webbkamera eller liknande. Vidare måste fokus ligga på att främja lärandet, att välja ett LMS med potential att växa och personalisera tror vi främjar lärandet i positiv riktning.

No description available.

University of Technology, Sydney. School of Management, Faculty of Business. / This study investigated how selected Australian universities evaluated and adopted various learning management systems in their teaching and learning programs, given claims of uncritical evaluation, problems and cautions in the Australian (1998: 13; Brabazon, 2002; Yetton, Forster, Hewson, Hughes, Johnston, Nightingale, Page-Hanify, Vitale and Wills, 1997) and North American (Berg, 2002; Noble, 1998b) higher education literatures. Ironically, universities charge large amounts of money teaching their students to develop competence in critical analysis, yet some studies have claimed that they were deficient in critically analysing their own decisions (Brabazon, 2002; Yetton et al., 1997). This important question has received little attention in the higher education literature, despite the high visibility and costs of these decisions. Although limited theoretical explanations have been proposed by various researchers, such as Yetton et al. (1997) and Brabazon (2002), these matters have not been the subject of published empirical research to date. A grounded theory methodological framework, validated by the insights of institutional theory, was employed throughout to promote broader sociological explanations than other studies constrained by functionalist theoretical frameworks (Yetton et al., 1997). Qualitative case studies utilising semi-structured interviews and document analysis were conducted at three Australian universities. The findings of this analysis were written up in three case study narratives and an analytic cross-case analysis. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis at the field level were undertaken as an additional source of data to verify emergent grounded theory. A grounded theory of uncritical decision making (Figure 57) was ultimately developed in response to this study’s research problem. The core category around which this model was developed (‘falling behind’) appeared in all three cases, in interviews with experts from the Australian higher education sector, and was also found in both the Australian and overseas higher education literatures. This grounded theory also represents a minor contribution to the institutional theory literature as a new institutional change process model which links the activities of key individuals with broader field developments, and integrates the constructive and reproductive assumptions of old and new institutional theory.

There is a common acceptance that online technologies have the capacity to transform the way we learn. It appears the call for alternative modes of learning and the effective integration of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) into the regular classroom is no longer peripheral. There is sound evidence that increasingly teachers and schools are embracing the technologies available to them. This study examines the merits, barriers and issues associated with the employment of online technologies in the teaching and learning of second and foreign languages. Data is sourced from the views and opinions of five participants from a ‘brick and mortar’ school, three participants from a virtual school and the perspectives from two outside experts. The findings reveal participants show an overall satisfaction with the usefulness of online technologies. Compatible with the literature, the study shows that there are systemic factors undermining the efforts of individuals to fully utilise the technologies available to them. The overarching epistemology of this research is congruent with an Ecological model. This approach allows for a multi-level perspective of the complexity and disambiguation ICT has thrust upon educators and learners. This paper concludes with a positive view of the usefulness of online technologies and reaffirms what many researchers are claiming; most schools are only at the beginning of their ICT journey.

University of Technology, Sydney. School of Management, Faculty of Business. / This study investigated how selected Australian universities evaluated and adopted various learning management systems in their teaching and learning programs, given claims of uncritical evaluation, problems and cautions in the Australian (1998: 13; Brabazon, 2002; Yetton, Forster, Hewson, Hughes, Johnston, Nightingale, Page-Hanify, Vitale and Wills, 1997) and North American (Berg, 2002; Noble, 1998b) higher education literatures. Ironically, universities charge large amounts of money teaching their students to develop competence in critical analysis, yet some studies have claimed that they were deficient in critically analysing their own decisions (Brabazon, 2002; Yetton et al., 1997). This important question has received little attention in the higher education literature, despite the high visibility and costs of these decisions. Although limited theoretical explanations have been proposed by various researchers, such as Yetton et al. (1997) and Brabazon (2002), these matters have not been the subject of published empirical research to date. A grounded theory methodological framework, validated by the insights of institutional theory, was employed throughout to promote broader sociological explanations than other studies constrained by functionalist theoretical frameworks (Yetton et al., 1997). Qualitative case studies utilising semi-structured interviews and document analysis were conducted at three Australian universities. The findings of this analysis were written up in three case study narratives and an analytic cross-case analysis. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis at the field level were undertaken as an additional source of data to verify emergent grounded theory. A grounded theory of uncritical decision making (Figure 57) was ultimately developed in response to this study’s research problem. The core category around which this model was developed (‘falling behind’) appeared in all three cases, in interviews with experts from the Australian higher education sector, and was also found in both the Australian and overseas higher education literatures. This grounded theory also represents a minor contribution to the institutional theory literature as a new institutional change process model which links the activities of key individuals with broader field developments, and integrates the constructive and reproductive assumptions of old and new institutional theory.

University of Technology, Sydney. School of Management, Faculty of Business. / This study investigated how selected Australian universities evaluated and adopted various learning management systems in their teaching and learning programs, given claims of uncritical evaluation, problems and cautions in the Australian (1998: 13; Brabazon, 2002; Yetton, Forster, Hewson, Hughes, Johnston, Nightingale, Page-Hanify, Vitale and Wills, 1997) and North American (Berg, 2002; Noble, 1998b) higher education literatures. Ironically, universities charge large amounts of money teaching their students to develop competence in critical analysis, yet some studies have claimed that they were deficient in critically analysing their own decisions (Brabazon, 2002; Yetton et al., 1997). This important question has received little attention in the higher education literature, despite the high visibility and costs of these decisions. Although limited theoretical explanations have been proposed by various researchers, such as Yetton et al. (1997) and Brabazon (2002), these matters have not been the subject of published empirical research to date. A grounded theory methodological framework, validated by the insights of institutional theory, was employed throughout to promote broader sociological explanations than other studies constrained by functionalist theoretical frameworks (Yetton et al., 1997). Qualitative case studies utilising semi-structured interviews and document analysis were conducted at three Australian universities. The findings of this analysis were written up in three case study narratives and an analytic cross-case analysis. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis at the field level were undertaken as an additional source of data to verify emergent grounded theory. A grounded theory of uncritical decision making (Figure 57) was ultimately developed in response to this study’s research problem. The core category around which this model was developed (‘falling behind’) appeared in all three cases, in interviews with experts from the Australian higher education sector, and was also found in both the Australian and overseas higher education literatures. This grounded theory also represents a minor contribution to the institutional theory literature as a new institutional change process model which links the activities of key individuals with broader field developments, and integrates the constructive and reproductive assumptions of old and new institutional theory.