No description available.

No description available.

The use of online courses continues to increase despite the small amount of research that exists on the effectiveness of online educational environments. The little research that has been conducted has focused on evaluating factors taken into consideration during the adoption of online learning environments. One notable benefit often cited is the ability to incorporate multimedia such as video games. Although game researchers and developers are pushing for the use of video games for educational purposes, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of serious video games. When paring the increasing use of online educational environments, the push to use serious video games, and the lack of research on the effectiveness of online learning environments and video games, there is a clear need for further investigation into the use of serious video games in an online format. Based on current literature, no other known study has conducted an analysis comparing a serious game-based and non-game based online course; making this a unique study. The purpose of this study was to compare student learning experiences and outcomes between a serious game-based and non-game based online American History course. The data sources were data provided from Florida Virtual School (FLVS) and student and teacher interviews. Random samples of 92 students were statistically analyzed. A group of 8 students and 4 teachers were interviewed. FLVS data provided were analyzed using an independent t-test and the Mann-Whitney test and the student and teacher interview were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results of an independent t-test revealed that there was a significant (p > .01) difference in the mean number of days necessary to complete the course (MGB = 145.80, SDGB = 50.64, MNGB = 112.63, SDNGB = 49.60). The Mann-Whitney results indicated a significant difference between course performance and the type of American history course (Z = -5.066, p > .01); students in the serious game-based online course had an A average whereas students in the non-game-based online course had a B average. The thematic analysis of the relationship between student performance and motivation in both courses indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more reasons for student motivation than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. The thematic analysis of what aspects do students perceive as helpful and/or hindering to their learning indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more desirable, more helpful, less undesirable, and less hindering aspects for their course than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. As a result of the unique nature of this study, the findings provide new information for the fields of research on online learning, serious video gaming, and instructional design as well as inform instructional-designers, teachers, education stakeholders, serious video game designers, and education researchers.

Die neue interaktive Online-Bildungsplattform openHPI (https://openHPI.de) des Hasso-Plattner-Instituts (HPI) bietet frei zugängliche und kostenlose Onlinekurse für interessierte Teilnehmer an, die sich mit Inhalten aus dem Bereich der Informationstechnologien und Informatik beschäftige¬n. Wie die seit 2011 zunächst von der Stanford University, später aber auch von anderen Elite-Universitäten der USA angeboten „Massive Open Online Courses“, kurz MOOCs genannt, bietet openHPI im Internet Lernvideos und weiterführenden Lesestoff in einer Kombination mit lernunterstützenden Selbsttests, Hausaufgaben und einem sozialen Diskussionsforum an und stimuliert die Ausbildung einer das Lernen fördernden virtuellen Lerngemeinschaft. Im Unterschied zu „traditionellen“ Vorlesungsportalen, wie z.B. dem tele-TASK Portal (http://www.tele-task.de), bei dem multimedial aufgezeichnete Vorlesungen zum Abruf bereit gestellt werden, bietet openHPI didaktisch aufbereitete Onlinekurse an. Diese haben einen festen Starttermin und bieten dann in einem austarierten Zeitplan von sechs aufeinanderfolgenden Kurswochen multimedial aufbereitete und wann immer möglich interaktive Lehrmaterialien. In jeder Woche wird ein Kapitel des Kursthemas behandelt. Dazu werden zu Wochenbeginn eine Reihe von Lehrvideos, Texten, Selbsttests und ein Hausaufgabenblatt bereitgestellt, mit denen sich die Kursteilnehmer in dieser Woche beschäftigen. Kombiniert sind die Angebote mit einer sozialen Diskussionsplattform, auf der sich die Teilnehmer mit den Kursbetreuern und anderen Teilnehmern austauschen, Fragen klären und weiterführende Themen diskutieren können. Natürlich entscheiden die Teilnehmer selbst über Art und Umfang ihrer Lernaktivitäten. Sie können in den Kurs eigene Beiträge einbringen, zum Beispiel durch Blogposts oder Tweets, auf die sie im Forum verweisen. Andere Lernende können diese dann kommentieren, diskutieren oder ihrerseits erweitern. Auf diese Weise werden die Lernenden, die Lehrenden und die angebotenen Lerninhalte in einer virtuellen Gemeinschaft, einem sozialen Lernnetzwerk miteinander verknüpft. / The new interactive online educational platform openHPI, (https://openHPI.de) from Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), offers freely accessible courses at no charge for all who are interested in subjects in the field of information technology and computer science. Since 2011, “Massive Open Online Courses,” called MOOCs for short, have been offered, first at Stanford University and then later at other U.S. elite universities. Following suit, openHPI provides instructional videos on the Internet and further reading material, combined with learning-supportive self-tests, homework and a social discussion forum. Education is further stimulated by the support of a virtual learning community. In contrast to “traditional” lecture platforms, such as the tele-TASK portal (http://www.tele-task.de) where multimedia recorded lectures are available on demand, openHPI offers didactic online courses. The courses have a fixed start date and offer a balanced schedule of six consecutive weeks presented in multimedia and, whenever possible, interactive learning material. Each week, one chapter of the course subject is treated. In addition, a series of learning videos, texts, self-tests and homework exercises are provided to course participants at the beginning of the week. The course offering is combined with a social discussion platform where participants have the opportunity to enter into an exchange with course instructors and fellow participants. Here, for example, they can get answers to questions and discuss the topics in depth. The participants naturally decide themselves about the type and range of their learning activities. They can make personal contributions to the course, for example, in blog posts or tweets, which they can refer to in the forum. In turn, other participants have the chance to comment on, discuss or expand on what has been said. In this way, the learners become the teachers and the subject matter offered to a virtual community is linked to a social learning network.

The new interactive online educational platform openHPI, (https://openHPI.de) from Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), offers freely accessible courses at no charge for all who are interested in subjects in the field of information technology and computer science. Since 2011, “Massive Open Online Courses,” called MOOCs for short, have been offered, first at Stanford University and then later at other U.S. elite universities. Following suit, openHPI provides instructional videos on the Internet and further reading material, combined with learning-supportive self-tests, homework and a social discussion forum. Education is further stimulated by the support of a virtual learning community. In contrast to “traditional” lecture platforms, such as the tele-TASK portal (http://www.tele-task.de) where multimedia recorded lectures are available on demand, openHPI offers didactic online courses. The courses have a fixed start date and offer a balanced schedule of six consecutive weeks presented in multimedia and, whenever possible, interactive learning material. Each week, one chapter of the course subject is treated. In addition, a series of learning videos, texts, self-tests and homework exercises are provided to course participants at the beginning of the week. The course offering is combined with a social discussion platform where participants have the opportunity to enter into an exchange with course instructors and fellow participants. Here, for example, they can get answers to questions and discuss the topics in depth. The participants naturally decide themselves about the type and range of their learning activities. They can make personal contributions to the course, for example, in blog posts or tweets, which they can refer to in the forum. In turn, other participants have the chance to comment on, discuss or expand on what has been said. In this way, the learners become the teachers and the subject matter offered to a virtual community is linked to a social learning network. / Die neue interaktive Online-Bildungsplattform openHPI (https://openHPI.de) des Hasso-Plattner-Instituts (HPI) bietet frei zugängliche und kostenlose Onlinekurse für interessierte Teilnehmer an, die sich mit Inhalten aus dem Bereich der Informationstechnologien und Informatik beschäftige¬n. Wie die seit 2011 zunächst von der Stanford University, später aber auch von anderen Elite-Universitäten der USA angeboten „Massive Open Online Courses“, kurz MOOCs genannt, bietet openHPI im Internet Lernvideos und weiterführenden Lesestoff in einer Kombination mit lernunterstützenden Selbsttests, Hausaufgaben und einem sozialen Diskussionsforum an und stimuliert die Ausbildung einer das Lernen fördernden virtuellen Lerngemeinschaft. Im Unterschied zu „traditionellen“ Vorlesungsportalen, wie z.B. dem tele-TASK Portal (http://www.tele-task.de), bei dem multimedial aufgezeichnete Vorlesungen zum Abruf bereit gestellt werden, bietet openHPI didaktisch aufbereitete Onlinekurse an. Diese haben einen festen Starttermin und bieten dann in einem austarierten Zeitplan von sechs aufeinanderfolgenden Kurswochen multimedial aufbereitete und wann immer möglich interaktive Lehrmaterialien. In jeder Woche wird ein Kapitel des Kursthemas behandelt. Dazu werden zu Wochenbeginn eine Reihe von Lehrvideos, Texten, Selbsttests und ein Hausaufgabenblatt bereitgestellt, mit denen sich die Kursteilnehmer in dieser Woche beschäftigen. Kombiniert sind die Angebote mit einer sozialen Diskussionsplattform, auf der sich die Teilnehmer mit den Kursbetreuern und anderen Teilnehmern austauschen, Fragen klären und weiterführende Themen diskutieren können. Natürlich entscheiden die Teilnehmer selbst über Art und Umfang ihrer Lernaktivitäten. Sie können in den Kurs eigene Beiträge einbringen, zum Beispiel durch Blogposts oder Tweets, auf die sie im Forum verweisen. Andere Lernende können diese dann kommentieren, diskutieren oder ihrerseits erweitern. Auf diese Weise werden die Lernenden, die Lehrenden und die angebotenen Lerninhalte in einer virtuellen Gemeinschaft, einem sozialen Lernnetzwerk miteinander verknüpft.

Massive Open Online Courses, kurz MOOCs, zählen laut Horizon-Report 2013 zu den aktuellen Schlüsseltrends im Bereich des onlinebasierten Lernens und gelten als eines der wichtigsten neuen Bildungskonzepte. (...)

摘要。哈索•普拉特纳研究院 (HPI) 的新型互动在线教育平台 openHPI (https://openHPI.de) 可以为从事信息技术和信息学领域内容的工作和感兴趣的学员提供可自由访问的、免费的在线课程。与斯坦福大学于 2011 年首推，之后也在美国其他精英大学提供的“网络公开群众课”（简称 MOOC）一样，openHPI 同样在互联网中提供学习视频和阅读材料，其中综合了支持学习的自我测试、家庭作业和社交讨论论坛，并刺激对促进学习的虚拟学习团队的培训。与“传统的”讲座平台，比如 tele-TASK 平台 (http://www.tele-task.de) 不同（在该平台中，可调用以多媒体方式记录的和已准备好的讲座），openHPI 提供的是按教学法准备的在线课程。这些课程的开始时间固定，之后在连续六个课程周稳定的提供以多媒体方式准备的、尽可能可以互动的学习材料。每周讲解课程主题的一章。为此在该周开始前会准备一系列学习视频、文字、自我测试和家庭作业材料，课程学员在该周将精力用于处理这些内容。这些计划与一个社交讨论平台相结合，学员在该平台上可以与课程导师和其他学员交换意见、解答问题和讨论更多主题。当然，学员可以自己决定学习活动的类型和范围。他们可以为课程作出自己的贡献，比如在论坛中引用博文或推文。之后其他学员可以评论、讨论或自己扩展这些博文或推文。这样学员、教师和提供的学习内容就在一个虚拟的团体中与社交学习网络相互结合起来。 / Abstract. The new interactive online educational platform openHPI, (https://openHPI.de) from Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), offers freely accessible courses at no charge for all who are interested in subjects in the field of information technology and computer science. Since 2011, “Massive Open Online Courses,” called MOOCs for short, have been offered, first at Stanford University and then later at other U.S. elite universities. Following suit, openHPI provides instructional videos on the Internet and further reading material, combined with learning-supportive self-tests, homework and a social discussion forum. Education is further stimulated by the support of a virtual learning community. In contrast to “traditional” lecture platforms, such as the tele-TASK portal (http://www.tele-task.de) where multimedia recorded lectures are available on demand, openHPI offers didactic online courses. The courses have a fixed start date and offer a balanced schedule of six consecutive weeks presented in multimedia and, whenever possible, interactive learning material. Each week, one chapter of the course subject is treated. In addition, a series of learning videos, texts, self-tests and homework exercises are provided to course participants at the beginning of the week. The course offering is combined with a social discussion platform where participants have the opportunity to enter into an exchange with course instructors and fellow participants. Here, for example, they can get answers to questions and discuss the topics in depth. The participants naturally decide themselves about the type and range of their learning activities. They can make personal contributions to the course, for example, in blog posts or tweets, which they can refer to in the forum. In turn, other participants have the chance to comment on, discuss or expand on what has been said. In this way, the learners become the teachers and the subject matter offered to a virtual community is linked to a social learning network.

The dissertation deals with the experimental research that examines the effectiveness of the ESP e-learning course of Business English in comparison with the method of face-to-face instruction. The literature review has revealed the absence of scientific research in the field of our investigation. It has justified why our proposed research study should be conducted and led us to the rationale for our research. The main objective of this dissertation was to find out whether the e-learning method was as effective as the face-to-face instruction, i.e., whether there were no statistically significant differences between the results of the students who completed the e-learning course (experimental group) and those who completed the face-to-face course (control group). Simultaneously, we examined whether there were any statistically significant differences in the results of the students at the beginning of the course and at the end of the course within individual groups, i.e., whether the students improved their skills and vocabulary. The supplementary objective was to find out the students' opinions on the effectiveness of e- learning depending on the frequencies of their responses and on their qualitative signs. The practical outcome is the ESP e-learning course for the subject of Business English in...

Distance education is, by its very nature, a response to the development of communications technology in the Industrial Era, coupled with the societal changes initiated by these developments (Garrison and Cleveland-Innes, 2010: 14). The current distance learning landscape is thus shaped by changing social needs brought about by the impact of advancements in technology. This case study investigates the effectiveness of new aspects of digital learning tools as additional resources in the TEFLA course, a Short Learning Programme (SLP), offered by UNISA. These aspects of digital course delivery introduce e-learning by incorporating synchronous and asynchronous digital teaching and learning tools, in the shape of MOOCs (asynchronous learning), as well as webinars (synchronous learning). This study reviews the effectiveness of these online tools in enhancing the learning experience of TEFLA students. The theoretical framework that informs this study is based on the connectivism and socio-cultural theories of knowledge acquisition. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2016-06-28T17:45:27Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE FINAL_SILVIA CAUÁS ASFORA.pdf: 3365095 bytes, checksum: a39799eb8e64e2deca2accc20dd9525d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-28T17:45:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE FINAL_SILVIA CAUÁS ASFORA.pdf: 3365095 bytes, checksum: a39799eb8e64e2deca2accc20dd9525d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-09 / A Educação a Distancia mediada pela internet (iEaD) é uma modalidade de ensino na qual a mediação didático-pedagógica dos processos de ensino e aprendizagem ocorre com a utilização das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC’s), estando os estudantes e professores desenvolvendo atividades educativas em lugares ou tempos diversos. O objetivo deste estudo é investigar como a hipercultura está relacionada ao sucesso dos indivíduos em atividades de iEaD no contexto de cursos voltados para conteúdos ligados à administração de empresas, considerando as influências intervenientes de variáveis psicossociais e educacionais. O trabalho em questão apoia-se em três estudos hipotético-dedutivos, observacionais e transversais, possuindo como marco teórico a Teoria da Mediação Cognitiva (TMC) e o conceito de hipercultura. A estratégia utilizada na pesquisa foi quantitativa, seguida de análises estatísticas dos dados; quanto ao meio de investigação, foram utilizadas pesquisas de campo tipo survey com coleta de dados primários; para instrumento de coleta de dados, foram utilizados questionários e também bases de dados institucionais de uso e desempenho em sistemas de iEaD. Na análise e interpretação dos dados, foram utilizados métodos estatísticos diversos bem como conceitos da teoria das probabilidades. A sociodemografia das amostras foi caracterizada por meio de estatística descritiva, o mesmo ocorrendo com as principais variáveis dependentes. Testes de hipótese e coeficientes de correlação foram utilizados para avaliar o grau de associação entre pares de variáveis. A análise de aglomerados, análise fatorial, smallest space analysis e a teoria das facetas foram usadas para avaliações multivariadas. Em função dos resultados obtidos, foram empregadas ainda técnicas de regressão múltipla para o levantamento de modelos e análises de confiabilidade para determinar a consistência de indicadores. Os resultados da pesquisa revelaram que o sucesso de alunos no iEaD depende da combinação do grau de internalização da hipercultura dos alunos com o grau de hiperculturalidade do curso. A hiperculturalidade dos alunos está positivamente correlacionada a um melhor desempenho e a uma menor evasão quando os cursos apresentam características mais hiperculturais. Alunos de baixa hiperculturalidade tendem a um melhor desempenho, menor insatisfação e menor evasão em curso menos hiperculturais. Cursos de baixa hiperculturalidade exercem influência negativa nos alunos de alta hiperculturalidade levando-os a um pior desempenho e à evasão. Foi evidenciado também que as atitudes de demandantes do ensino superior em relação ao iEaD são positivamente influenciadas pelo seu grau de internalização da hipercultura e que existe correlação positiva e estatisticamente significativa entre os valores atribuídos a todos os aspectos do iEaD e a disposição em cursar o ensino superior nesta modalidade. Foi também observado que a hipercultura está associada a um determinado tipo de cognição (pensamento visual, busca por atualização e obtenção de notícias) e também associada a determinados tipos de atitudes (abertura, extroversão, sociabilidade) / Internet based distance education (iEaD) comprises teaching methods in which the didactic-pedagogic mediation of the teaching processes occurs with the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with teachers and students developing educational activities in different sites at different times. The main goal of this research work is to investigate the hyperculture related with individuals accomplishments on iEaD, associated to Business Administration courses, considering the influence of psycho-social and educational variables. This research is based on three hypothetic-deductive, observational, and cross-sectional studies, using Cognitive Mediation Theory and Hyperculture as theoretical framework. This research utilizes a quantitative strategy, followed by data statistical analysis. Data collection was driven by students' surveys, as well as online institutions' information regarding iEaD use and performance. Data analysis was based on various statistical methods, and probability theory. The sampling frame socio-demographic aspect, as well as the dependent variables, were defined by descriptive statistics. Hypothesis tests and correlation coefficients were used to measure the degree of association between variables. Multivariate evaluation utilized cluster sample analysis, factorial analysis, smallest space analysis, and facet theory. On the basis of the results, consistency indicators were determined by using multiple regression techniques and reliability analysis. The results obtained showed that students' performance is based on students specific levels of Hyperculture and iEaD courses hyperculture. When students and courses are hypercultural, better performance and lower drop rate were found. Less hypercultural students have better performance with less hypercultural courses. Courses with less hypercultural aspects have a negative influence on hypercultural students showing a lower performance and higher drop rate. Students' attitude towards internet based distance education (iEaD) is influenced by their hypercultural aspects. There is a correlation between iEaD course value and the desire to take online classes for post-secondary education. This research also found that hyperculture is associated with some kinds of cognition (visual thinking, search for up-to-date information, news search), and attitudes (openness, extroversion, socialization).