Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Many teaching and learning practices in higher education, including social work education in South Africa, tend to be characterised by a transmission mode of instruction, whereby knowledge moves from the expert educator to the student. This study investigates the extent to which an authentic learning framework can be used to improve the teaching of meso practice in social work to a class of 80 second-year students at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. A modified version of educational design-based research, was deployed which created a set of guidelines to inform future research and course design. Design-based research includes an iterative process, however, and the four-phased modified version of design-based research used in this study deploys just one roll-out of a redesigned course on meso practice, using the elements of authentic learning (Herrington, Reeves & Oliver, 2010). Phase 1 consisted of a review of the literature on meso practice education and the authentic learning framework. Phase 2 involved an analysis of practical problems identified by six educators and four field instruction supervisors, based on the way they teach and supervise students in the area of meso practice intervention. In Phase 3 the course was implemented and evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively by the student participants and four field instruction supervisors. Phase 4 consisted of a reflection on the entire process, to produce design guidelines using the elements of authentic learning and the inclusion of affect in course design. Mixed-methods research was undertaken, incorporating primarily qualitative data with quantitative data from a survey conducted with the students. Findings from this study have led to an augmented list of authentic learning elements, which includes the use of affect in meso practice and the development of guidelines for educators which have the potential to be relevant and applicable in other courses, contexts and disciplines. / NRF / Pillay, R. (2017). Crafting a meso practice course using elements of authentic learning for undergraduate social work students in South Africa. PhD thesis. University of the Western Cape

This document is a report on an experiment in which mathematical skills were taught to first year university students using the Web as a method of instructional delivery. Special attention was paid to the ability of students from disadvantaged backgrounds to cope with this method of delivery. Overall, the results obtained by students using this method were slightly better than that of students on the equivalent paper-based course. However, students from disadvantaged backgrounds fared marginally worse than those on the paper-based course. The results of these students allow extrapolation to a broader context where Web-based teaching of disadvantaged communities may be used. Definitions for knowledge, information, learning and teaching were developed. These definitions were then used as the foundation for creating the Web pages used in the experiment. / Dissertation (DPhil (Information Science))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Information Science / unrestricted

In our rapidly developing society, companies and education have to continuously reflect upon their ways of working in order learn and improve. Learning within organizations can be measured by studying behavioral change, and research has shown that behavioral change can be achieved with technology enhanced interventions and coaching. The purpose of this study is to explore how the participants perceive a behavioral change process when it is matched with technology, what aspects of the process that effect the participants’ learning and behavior, and to find a technological solution which enables coaching for behavioral change. This has been done by a user-centered designed process where the participants used surveys to assess their behavior and attitudes. The data collected was then used as basis for coaching, reflection and feedback. In conclusion, this study showed a perceived change in behavior due to reflection and increased transparency into the change process, both facilitated by the technology added to the process. / I vårt snabba utvecklingssamhälle måste företag och utbildning ständigt reflektera över sitt arbetssätt för att lära sig och utvecklas. Lärande inom organisationer kan mätas genom att studera förändringar i beteende, och forskning har visat att beteendeförändring kan åstadkommas med teknikförstärkta interventioner och coaching. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur deltagarna uppfattar en process för beteendeförändring när den matchas med teknik, vilka aspekter av processen som påverkar deltagarnas lärande och beteende, samt att hitta en teknisk lösning som möjliggör coaching för beteendeförändring. Detta har gjorts genom en användarcentrerad designprocess där deltagarna använde enkäter för att skatta sina beteende och attityder. Den data som samlades in användes sedan för coaching, reflektion och återkoppling. Sammanfattningsvis visade studien en upplevd beteendeförändring på grund av reflektion och ökad transparens i förändringsarbetet, vilka underlättades av teknikförstärkningen.

Understanding math is an important part of school, yet it is a common source of anxiety as many children find the subject difficult to grasp. One approach to encourage children to learn math is to implement game elements (gamification) in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) systems. However, designers must consider what motivates children to use such systems to better encourage them to learn. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to investigate how gamification can be implemented in the design of a mobile TEL application, in this case the Albert application, to motivate children to learn math. This was researched by designing a concept focusing on avatars for Albert and letting users between the ages of 10 and 12 evaluate it. The design process followed the Double Diamond model, and the game elements were designed according to three core drives from the Octalysis framework. The results showed that children who like math are more likely to become motivated by the presented gamification concept than the children who have a more negative attitude towards math. As a conclusion, one can motivate children to learn math using a TEL platform by including avatarism as a form of gamification. / Att förstå matte är en viktig del av skolgången, samtidigt kan det ofta vara ångestframkallande för barn som anser att ämnet är svårt att greppa. Ett sätt att uppmuntra barn att lära sig matte är att implementera spelelement i så kallade ”Technology-Enhanced Learning” (TEL)-system. Dock måste designers ha i åtanke vad som motiverar barn att använda sådana system för att bättre kunna uppmuntra dem att lära sig matte. Målet med denna uppsats var därför att undersöka huruvida spelelement kan implementeras i designen av en mobil TEL-applikation, i vårt fall Albertapplikationen, för att motivera barn att lära sig matte. Detta undersöktes genom att designa att koncept fokuserat på avatarer för Albert, och låta användare mellan åldrarna 10 och 12 utvärdera det. Designprocessen följde Double Diamond-modellen, och spelelementen designades utefter tre ”core drives” från Octalysis-ramverket. Resultaten visade att det är mer sannolikt att barn som gillar matte blir mer motiverade av det presenterade konceptet, än barn som har en mer negativ inställning gentemot ämnet. Vi kunde dra slutsatsen att en kan motivera barn att lära sig matte genom att inkludera avatarism i en TEL-applikation.

Challenges in the South African education system arise from inter alia inadequate training, social and environmental problems, parental inefficiency, insufficient professionalism among teachers, as well as negative attitudes of learners. An urgent need exists to establish “a moral underground, an army of volunteers” (Jansen, 2012) who would be willing to provide another chance to “abandoned children” in poorer schools to develop their full potential for a brighter future. To assist learners to achieve a better future, this study focused on teacher-students and to enhance their learning experiences and consequently their teaching performance. By motivating the teacher-students to develop their potential in order to achieve better, they could, in turn, break the barriers of mediocrity in the learners they taught. The aim of this study was to uncover how a social network service (SNS) like Facebook could be used as an academic tool to support and enhance the affective learning experience of open distance teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape. The main research question which guided this study was: How can the affective learning of open distance learning teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape be supported through academic Facebook? The research intervention which elicited data, comprised coaching and scaffolding of the learning content relating to research methodology, as well as guiding the participants to engage with an SNS as a learning technology in an academic environment. The researcher created a support group on Facebook where participants could, at any time, interact with peers and the facilitator. Non-probability purposive sampling selected the participants according to the following criteria: isiXhosa home language speaking teacher-students from the rural areas around Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, enrolled with NWU for a BEd Honours degree, and who owned cellular phones which could connect to the Internet. While 74 teacher-students were invited to participate in the research, only 34 attended some of the coaching and scaffolding sessions, and 22 joined the FaceFunda group page. This qualitative bounded case study was conducted from a postmodern pragmatic view. Data were collected through individual interviews, a focus group interview, text from the FaceFunda group page and the researcher’s reflective diary. The data were analysed with Atlas. ti™. Three patterns emerged which described participants’ affective experiences: (i) emotions while learning with technology, (ii) experiences with technology, and (iii) need for support. In each case, the patterns related to emotions of competence (codes that captured positive and enabling experiences), and emotions of incompetence (codes that captured negative and incapacitating experiences). A secondary analysis of the findings uncovered the guidelines for the academic use of Facebook for rural distance teacher-students. Four themes emerged as guidelines: i) coaching and scaffolding support, (ii) technological support, (iii) peer support, and (iv) communication with the higher education institution. The guidelines highlighted that the affective learning of open distance learning of rural teacher-students in the Eastern Cape can be supported through the academic use of Facebook. ODL teacher-students require support coaching and scaffolding in order to adopt the use of SNSs for academic purposes. Adult learners should be supported to overcome technophobia to enable engagement with learning content. With adequate supportive measures, SNSs can contribute towards positive learning experiences of rural students. / MEd (Learner support), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Challenges in the South African education system arise from inter alia inadequate training, social and environmental problems, parental inefficiency, insufficient professionalism among teachers, as well as negative attitudes of learners. An urgent need exists to establish “a moral underground, an army of volunteers” (Jansen, 2012) who would be willing to provide another chance to “abandoned children” in poorer schools to develop their full potential for a brighter future. To assist learners to achieve a better future, this study focused on teacher-students and to enhance their learning experiences and consequently their teaching performance. By motivating the teacher-students to develop their potential in order to achieve better, they could, in turn, break the barriers of mediocrity in the learners they taught. The aim of this study was to uncover how a social network service (SNS) like Facebook could be used as an academic tool to support and enhance the affective learning experience of open distance teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape. The main research question which guided this study was: How can the affective learning of open distance learning teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape be supported through academic Facebook? The research intervention which elicited data, comprised coaching and scaffolding of the learning content relating to research methodology, as well as guiding the participants to engage with an SNS as a learning technology in an academic environment. The researcher created a support group on Facebook where participants could, at any time, interact with peers and the facilitator. Non-probability purposive sampling selected the participants according to the following criteria: isiXhosa home language speaking teacher-students from the rural areas around Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, enrolled with NWU for a BEd Honours degree, and who owned cellular phones which could connect to the Internet. While 74 teacher-students were invited to participate in the research, only 34 attended some of the coaching and scaffolding sessions, and 22 joined the FaceFunda group page. This qualitative bounded case study was conducted from a postmodern pragmatic view. Data were collected through individual interviews, a focus group interview, text from the FaceFunda group page and the researcher’s reflective diary. The data were analysed with Atlas. ti™. Three patterns emerged which described participants’ affective experiences: (i) emotions while learning with technology, (ii) experiences with technology, and (iii) need for support. In each case, the patterns related to emotions of competence (codes that captured positive and enabling experiences), and emotions of incompetence (codes that captured negative and incapacitating experiences). A secondary analysis of the findings uncovered the guidelines for the academic use of Facebook for rural distance teacher-students. Four themes emerged as guidelines: i) coaching and scaffolding support, (ii) technological support, (iii) peer support, and (iv) communication with the higher education institution. The guidelines highlighted that the affective learning of open distance learning of rural teacher-students in the Eastern Cape can be supported through the academic use of Facebook. ODL teacher-students require support coaching and scaffolding in order to adopt the use of SNSs for academic purposes. Adult learners should be supported to overcome technophobia to enable engagement with learning content. With adequate supportive measures, SNSs can contribute towards positive learning experiences of rural students. / MEd (Learner support), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) hold the potential to open up educational opportunities and learning experiences to a global audience by combining recent technological advances with technology-enhanced learning. In general, MOOCs are considered online courses that require no prior qualifications for entry, can be accessed by anyone, and attract a diverse audience from a variety of learning and professional backgrounds. However, MOOC teams (including instructors and learning designers, among others) face several challenges when designing for learning in this context. In this work, two main challenges are investigated and approached, namely the lack of well-defined and validated learning design strategies to support practitioners in the MOOC development, and the poor pedagogical design models adopted in MOOCs, which are generally based on traditional classroom formats, such as teacher-centered approaches and content-based learning. Thus, the purpose of this work is to propose a learning design strategy, named Learning Design Framework for MOOCs (LDF4MOOCs), which is grounded on Software Engineering mechanisms and systematic procedures to ensure the standardization and the productivity of all the aspects involved in the MOOC development process. LDF4MOOCs consists of: (i) a MOOC Life Cycle process, which describes fundamental steps to plan, offer, and evaluate a MOOC; (ii) an Educational Design Pattern Language for MOOCs, which is based on problems and recurring solutions to solve the main activities described in the life cycle; and (iii) the related supporting resources. LDF4MOOCs is also pedagogically informed by Flipped Learning ideas, including active learning strategies, self-regulated learning, competency-based design, learner-centered learning, among others. LDF4MOOCs and its elements were evaluated through an experimental study, three case studies, and two expert reviews as internal evaluation methods. Additionally, a field evaluation with educators using the framework as a guide to design their MOOCs was considered as an external evaluation method. The obtained results indicated that LDF4MOOCs has a positive impact on the design for learning in MOOCs, suggesting that our strategy can be effectively applied to support and enhance MOOC development. / Cursos Online Abertos e Massivos (MOOCs) possuem o potencial de abrir oportunidades educacionais e experiências de aprendizado para um público global, combinando os avanços tecnológicos recentes e a aprendizagem mediada pela tecnologia. Em geral, eles são considerados cursos virtuais que não exigem qualificações prévias para a entrada, podem ser acessados por qualquer pessoa e atraem um público diversificado, com uma variedade de experiências e qualificações profissionais. No entanto, equipes responsáveis por desenvolverem MOOCs (incluindo instrutores e projetistas de aprendizagem, entre outros) deparam-se com vários desafios ao projetar para a aprendizagem nesse contexto. Neste trabalho, duas lacunas principais são investigadas e abordadas: a falta de estratégias de projeto de aprendizagem bem definidas e validadas para apoiar os profissionais no desenvolvimento de MOOCs; e as limitações nos modelos de projeto pedagógico adotados, geralmente baseados em formatos tradicionais de sala de aula, tais como abordagens centradas no professor e a aprendizagem baseada em conteúdo. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor e validar uma estratégia de projeto de aprendizagem denominada Learning Design Framework for MOOCs (LDF4MOOCs), baseada em mecanismos de Engenharia de Software e procedimentos sistemáticos para garantir a padronização e a produtividade de todos os aspectos envolvidos no processo de desenvolvimento de MOOCs. LDF4MOOCs consiste em: (i) um processo do ciclo de vida para MOOCs, que descreve etapas fundamentais para planejar, oferecer e avaliar um MOOC; (ii) uma Linguagem de Padrões de Projeto Educacional para MOOCs, baseada em problemas e soluções recorrentes para resolver as principais atividades descritas no ciclo de vida; e (iii) recursos de apoio relacionados. LDF4MOOCs também é pedagogicamente informado pelas ideias de Flipped Learning, incluindo estratégias de aprendizagem ativa, aprendizado autorregulado, projeto baseado em competências, aprendizado centrado no aluno, entre outros. O framework e seus elementos foram validados internamente por meio de um estudo experimental, três estudos de caso e duas revisões por especialistas. Adicionalmente, um estudo de campo envolvendo educadores que usaram o LDF4MOOCs como uma guia para desenvolver seus MOOCs foi utilizado como método de validação externa. Os resultados obtidos indicam que LDF4MOOCs apresenta um impacto positivo no projeto de aprendizagem para MOOCs, sugerindo que tal estratégia pode ser efetivamente aplicada para apoiar e melhorar o desenvolvimento de MOOCs.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:39:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Julio Cesar dos Santos.pdf: 1271511 bytes, checksum: 1261c8f0605466f2259d486fe729d7ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-27 / This work is part of the discussion about the use of virtual environments in distance learning courses in Accounting Undergraduate level. The motivation for its existence is justified due to the large growth of distance education in Brazil. In such context it is necessary an analysis about Virtual Learning Environment, which is a feature widely used and discussed in education mediated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). From this perspective, the proposal for this paper is to discuss the point of view of the Accounting course in DL mode s agents, especially the perception of the course coordinator about the features of Virtual Learning Environments that now exist and whether they are suitable for mediation of a course in Accounting in the distance modality. To investigate these questions, we created an assessment tool Survey, with questions related to the features of virtual environments used in High Education Institutions that offer undergraduate courses in Accounting in the distance modality, and has a pole of face support in the city of São Paulo. The results show that adaptations and improvements are necessary tools taking into account various aspects highlighted in the data analysis. It is hoped that this work can contribute effectively to improve the tools of virtual environments / O presente trabalho insere-se na discussão sobre a utilização de ambientes virtuais em cursos a distância de Contabilidade em nível de Graduação. Essa preocupação se justifica devido ao grande crescimento do EaD no Brasil, pois, nesse contexto, faz-se necessária uma abordagem sobre os Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem, que se constituem num recurso muito utilizado e discutido na educação mediada pelas Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC). A partir dessa perspectiva, a proposta para este trabalho é discutir o ponto de vista do curso de Ciências Contábeis na modalidade EaD, em especial qual a percepção do coordenador de curso sobre as funcionalidades dos Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem hoje existentes e se eles são adequados para a mediação de um curso de Ciências Contábeis a distância. Para investigar esses questionamentos, criou-se um instrumento de avaliação Survey, com questões voltadas às funcionalidades dos ambientes virtuais utilizados nas Instituições de Ensino Superior que ofertam o curso de Graduação em Ciências Contábeis na modalidade a distância, e que tenha polo de apoio presencial na cidade de São Paulo. Os resultados mostram que adequações e melhorias nas ferramentas são necessárias levando-se em conta vários aspectos apontados na análise dos dados. Espera-se que o presente trabalho possa contribuir de maneira eficaz para melhorias das ferramentas dos ambientes virtuais

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) hold the potential to open up educational opportunities and learning experiences to a global audience by combining recent technological advances with technology-enhanced learning. In general, MOOCs are considered online courses that require no prior qualifications for entry, can be accessed by anyone, and attract a diverse audience from a variety of learning and professional backgrounds. However, MOOC teams (including instructors and learning designers, among others) face several challenges when designing for learning in this context. In this work, two main challenges are investigated and approached, namely the lack of well-defined and validated learning design strategies to support practitioners in the MOOC development, and the poor pedagogical design models adopted in MOOCs, which are generally based on traditional classroom formats, such as teacher-centered approaches and content-based learning. Thus, the purpose of this work is to propose a learning design strategy, named Learning Design Framework for MOOCs (LDF4MOOCs), which is grounded on Software Engineering mechanisms and systematic procedures to ensure the standardization and the productivity of all the aspects involved in the MOOC development process. LDF4MOOCs consists of: (i) a MOOC Life Cycle process, which describes fundamental steps to plan, offer, and evaluate a MOOC; (ii) an Educational Design Pattern Language for MOOCs, which is based on problems and recurring solutions to solve the main activities described in the life cycle; and (iii) the related supporting resources. LDF4MOOCs is also pedagogically informed by Flipped Learning ideas, including active learning strategies, self-regulated learning, competency-based design, learner-centered learning, among others. LDF4MOOCs and its elements were evaluated through an experimental study, three case studies, and two expert reviews as internal evaluation methods. Additionally, a field evaluation with educators using the framework as a guide to design their MOOCs was considered as an external evaluation method. The obtained results indicated that LDF4MOOCs has a positive impact on the design for learning in MOOCs, suggesting that our strategy can be effectively applied to support and enhance MOOC development. / Cursos Online Abertos e Massivos (MOOCs) possuem o potencial de abrir oportunidades educacionais e experiências de aprendizado para um público global, combinando os avanços tecnológicos recentes e a aprendizagem mediada pela tecnologia. Em geral, eles são considerados cursos virtuais que não exigem qualificações prévias para a entrada, podem ser acessados por qualquer pessoa e atraem um público diversificado, com uma variedade de experiências e qualificações profissionais. No entanto, equipes responsáveis por desenvolverem MOOCs (incluindo instrutores e projetistas de aprendizagem, entre outros) deparam-se com vários desafios ao projetar para a aprendizagem nesse contexto. Neste trabalho, duas lacunas principais são investigadas e abordadas: a falta de estratégias de projeto de aprendizagem bem definidas e validadas para apoiar os profissionais no desenvolvimento de MOOCs; e as limitações nos modelos de projeto pedagógico adotados, geralmente baseados em formatos tradicionais de sala de aula, tais como abordagens centradas no professor e a aprendizagem baseada em conteúdo. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor e validar uma estratégia de projeto de aprendizagem denominada Learning Design Framework for MOOCs (LDF4MOOCs), baseada em mecanismos de Engenharia de Software e procedimentos sistemáticos para garantir a padronização e a produtividade de todos os aspectos envolvidos no processo de desenvolvimento de MOOCs. LDF4MOOCs consiste em: (i) um processo do ciclo de vida para MOOCs, que descreve etapas fundamentais para planejar, oferecer e avaliar um MOOC; (ii) uma Linguagem de Padrões de Projeto Educacional para MOOCs, baseada em problemas e soluções recorrentes para resolver as principais atividades descritas no ciclo de vida; e (iii) recursos de apoio relacionados. LDF4MOOCs também é pedagogicamente informado pelas ideias de Flipped Learning, incluindo estratégias de aprendizagem ativa, aprendizado autorregulado, projeto baseado em competências, aprendizado centrado no aluno, entre outros. O framework e seus elementos foram validados internamente por meio de um estudo experimental, três estudos de caso e duas revisões por especialistas. Adicionalmente, um estudo de campo envolvendo educadores que usaram o LDF4MOOCs como uma guia para desenvolver seus MOOCs foi utilizado como método de validação externa. Os resultados obtidos indicam que LDF4MOOCs apresenta um impacto positivo no projeto de aprendizagem para MOOCs, sugerindo que tal estratégia pode ser efetivamente aplicada para apoiar e melhorar o desenvolvimento de MOOCs.

The main purpose of the study was to design, develop, deliver and evaluate a new distance web design course for the needs of students in a vocational higher education institution. Proactive action research was used as a framework during the research process. This research focused on the analysis of the existing face-to-face course to mitigate its problems in the new design. Then, accomplishments and insufficiencies of the new design in the new context were investigated. For this study, data were collected in two different semesters, in a vocational higher education institution. In the first semester, an existing course was investigated to see the problems and the needs. The results revealed that there were problems associated with &ldquo / motivational&rdquo / , &ldquo / interactional&rdquo / , &ldquo / instructional activities&rdquo / , &ldquo / support materials&rdquo / , &ldquo / up-to-date content&rdquo / , &ldquo / technologic&rdquo / , and &ldquo / non-technologic&rdquo / aspects of the existing course. Before the delivery of the new distance course in the second semester, it was completely redesigned with the new characteristics to mitigate some of the predetermined problems of the existing course. In this new structure, an instructor from Ankara gave the course via smart class to this vocational institution located in another city. In the second semester, data were collected to understand what the accomplishments of the new course, and what aspects of the new course needed to be modified. To triangulate qualitative findings, two questionnaire were conducted to see the students&rsquo / attitude towards web-based instruction and students&rsquo / perceptions about learning environment. With the findings of these data collection procedures, the accomplishments of the new design can be categorized in five main headings. These are &ldquo / working with an experienced instructor&rdquo / , &ldquo / extended learning opportunities&rdquo / , &ldquo / increased future expectations of students&rdquo / , &ldquo / fulfilled software requirements&rdquo / , and &ldquo / applicability of a distance vocational course&rdquo / . On the other hand, in the new structure of the course, new problems emerged such as &ldquo / course delivery problems&rdquo / and &ldquo / students&rsquo / readiness&rdquo / , because technology use in education sometimes comes with its unique problems including the solutions. Those accomplishments and insufficiencies points of the new design would be helpful in the new distance course design projects.