The main objective of this diploma thesis is to introduce the concept of public virtual educational portal (VEP) as a centralized system giving an easy way to spread information and knowledge among users for their lifelong progress. The partial objectives of this thesis are: - introduction to the problems of virtual education, - analysis of e-learning courses supply, their providers and tools used in the field of education in the Czech republic, - overview of selected learning tools and their utilizing within design of the VEP, - design of a feasible way of realization and evaluation of the VEP plan. Contribution of this thesis is, on the first place, to get the reader introduced into the problems of virtual education. Subsequently the reader is given a helpful overview of brokers and providers of educational courses in the Czech republic. Another benefit of this work is to provide readers with the most exploited tools for educational purposes. The main part of this thesis presents an overall concept of the public virtual educational portal including its realization feasibilities and benefits for the users. Finally this thesis is focused on investment plan evaluation in which the benefits and risks of the VEP project realization are described.

No description available.

Since their inception in 2006, K-12 virtual classrooms have spread across the nation, reaching millions of students every day. Despite the technological changes in today's society, adolescents who lack key personal characteristics may struggle to successfully complete online coursework. A caring teacher-student relationship may assist today's virtual learners in ways that enhance motivation, learning, and online education success. Although a veteran teacher of nine years, in this autoethnographic narrative inquiry, I shared my experience as a novice, English I virtual teacher as I strived to enact relational with my virtual education students.

Denna studie har undersökt hur en grupp elever använder ett virtuellt rum som klassrum. Effekten blev att de lärde sig fakta med hela kroppen. Det virtuella klassrummet kan bli ett nytt pedagogiskt redskap för skolungdomar där de kan vara med och bygga upp eller påverka innehållet. Studien är en etnografisk undersökning där jag har studerat multimodalitetsteorier av bl.a. Gunther Kress i vilken man tar hänsyn till alla teckenvärldar som ljud, bild, gester och kroppens rörelse i rummet. Undersökningen har behandlat frågorna; Vad produceras när barn och ungdomar använder virtuell verklighet i klassrummet? Vilka diskurser framträder när VR används som resurs för lärande? Hur kan designen i en virtuell klassrumsmiljö komma till uttryck? Hur kan virtuella läromedel distribueras? Jag har undersökt hur diskurser kan förändras efter platsens förutsättningar och hur designen av en VR-undervisning kan beskrivas. Studien innefattar en multimodal produktion under en bildlektion i ett virtuellt klassrum, undersökningen inkluderar även distribution av virtuell konst i lärmiljö. Jag har vidare funderat på vilka förutsättningar som krävs för att virtuell verklighet skall bli en standard i framtidens klassrum.

Asynchronous discussion board (ADB) is considered to be a key online learning component. Although ADB has become an important teaching method in higher education for blended courses, the literature shows low levels of both the quality and quantity of learner interaction in the discussion boards of Saudi blended learning courses. The purpose of the current study was to explore the effects of different blended learning discussion formats on the motivation level of learners, the quality of ADB posts, and the quantity of ADB posts in a blended information and communication technology (ICT) course. The mode of online instruction was the independent variable with two levels: ADB-alone and blended online instruction that combined live virtual classroom (LVC) and ADB (ADB+LVC). The study took the form of a quasi-experimental design and a total sample of 42 students was involved. Learner motivation levels were measured using Keller’s Course Interest Survey (CIS). The ADB quantity was defined as the number of posts by one student in one discussion forum divided by the number of participants in that forum. The ADB quality was measured using a comprehensive rubric. This study found no statistically significant differences in motivation level and quantity of ADB posts between the ADB-alone group and ADB+LVC group. This study did find a significant difference in ADB quality scores between the two groups. The study contributed to improving Saudi higher education’s online practices by exploring ways to improve interactions amongst students and their peers as well as their instructors in online or blended courses.

The increased use of online teaching during the year 2020 has highlighted that there is still a lack of knowledge on how the virtual classroom affects interacting and speaking. Therefore, this study focuses on answering the following two research questions: To what degree does online teaching support speaking and interaction in the classroom? Also, what strategies can teachers use to facilitate speaking and interacting better online? To answer the research questions, the author collected information from six different empirical studies in the field. One key result is that it is of high importance to increase the amount of interaction and communication between students in the Secondary School classroom. Furthermore, it is also highlighted that improving the design and structure can promote more purposeful interaction and communication between students and teachers. One implication of the study and for the field of research, in general, is that it only focuses on English as a second language and no other subjects. Another implication is that the study used only six empirical studies to collect the information which makes it difficult to generalise the results.

The importance of looking at student and teacher interactions holistically is essential and results in reflective teaching practices; consequently, the reflective practice of teaching needs to incorporate all facets of the teacher, known and unknown. This study looks at the potential influence of hidden biases towards adolescent Hispanic males and students with Emotional Behavior Disorders by observing preservice teacher (PT) interactions with students within a simulated classroom environment. Factorial MANOVAs and Discriminant analyses revealed statistically significant interactions and relationships between participant level of bias and the identified student avatars. These exchanges were more prevalent with one student avatar by both experimental and control PTs; indicating that student characteristics and their differences are important factors that need to be considered when addressing issues related to bias.

Teaching in the field of public health needs to employ a global perspective to account for the fact that public health problems and solutions have global determinants and implications as well. International university partnerships can promote such a perspective through the strengthening of cooperation, exchange, and communication between academic institutions across national boundaries. As an example for such an academic network in the field of public health, we introduce the International Public Health Partnership—a collaboration between a university in Germany and universities in India, Turkey, and Nigeria. Formed in 2005, it facilitated the exchange of information, fostered discussion about the transferability of public health concepts, contributed to the structural development of the universities involved, and promoted an intercultural dialog through a combination of local and distance learning activities. Although well accepted by students and staff, different obstacles were encountered; these included limited external funding, scarce own financial, time and personnel resources, and diverging regulations and structures of degree programs at the partnership sites. In the present article, we share several lessons that we learned during our joint collaboration and provide recommendations for other universities that are involved in partnerships with institutions of higher education or are interested to initiate such collaborations.

Educational video games have proven a useful tool for educators, offering experiential pedagogy in a variety of fields. Predicting the success of a video game in engaging students and motivating them to work with relevant material is problematic. One approach was attempted through administering the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator to 42 high school students and observing subsequent voluntary performance on a popular mathematics video game throughout one semester. Game dynamics matching certain personality elements of the students generally correlated between learning preferences in the classroom and in the online gaming environment. Students who enjoyed group dynamics in classroom settings likewise indicated enthusiasm for the group dynamics in game play. Those students preferring structured learning environments may prefer less open ended virtual learning gaming environments. Since the game incorporated multiple choice questions and rewarded correct choices made quickly, those students with personality styles in which questions are carefully considered before answering suffered in points scored compared to those used to making fast intuitive choices in exam settings. Additional studies, including those with larger populations and different types of video games, are needed for more definite conclusions.

Als Erweiterung des klassischen virtuellen Klassenzimmers wird in diesem Beitrag das Konzept des mobil-virtuellen Klassenzimmers (MVK) erläutert. Dieses basiert hauptsächlich auf einem Tool zur automatischen Analyse des textbasierten kollaborativen Dialogs in virtuellen Praxisgemeinschaften. Der aktuelle Entwicklungsstand des MVK umfasst quantitative empirische Modelle und Befunde zu Expertise, Partizipation und Expertenstatus in Praxisgemeinschaften, zur Akzeptanz der eingesetzten Technologie sowie zur Validität des Analysetools. Zwei Lernszenarien des MVK werden geschildert. Abschließend wird die entsprechende Forschungsagenda präsentiert.