Based on the specificity of educational technology research, "Development Research Method" was adopted as the methodological framework in the whole study. Under this framework, a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods was employed for data collection and analysis, including the knowledge pre- and post-test, generic-skill test, perception survey, in-depth interviews as well as artifacts of students' reflective journals, reports and game-playing records. All of these intensively focused on investigating students' and teachers' perceptions, students' learning motivation, behaviors, effectiveness with respect to the VISOLE approach and researching the design strategies for situated educational games. / Designed to make use of the immense power of World Wide Web (WWW) and facilitate a paradigm shift in education, VISOLE (Virtual Interactive Student-Oriented Learning Environment) is a new game-based situated learning paradigm which aims to enable student-centered learning taking place in a game-based interactive virtual environment. Briefly speaking, the VISOLE approach is composed of 3 phases in which students have to (Phase 1) preliminarily acquire some high-level knowledge in specific subject domains through teachers' scaffolding; (Phase 2) actively participate as a game character in a game-based virtual interactive environment to construct knowledge and skills from their near real-life game-play experiences; (Phase 3) reflect and generalize their game-based learning experiences through teachers' debriefing. / In accordance with the philosophy of "Development Research Method", the theoretical context and the research findings, besides developing and further enhancing the VISOLE approach, a framework for designing constructivist situated educational games was also theorized in the present study. / In spite of the research limitation in the present study, I believe that the issues explored, the proposed educational-game design strategies and the research methodological innovation discussed are vital references for the researchers, teachers and educational-policy makers in designing, researching, applying as well as considering and making related educational policies in the area of game-based learning. / In the present research, most of the teachers and students were basically positive towards VISOLE, Farmtasia as well as the respective learning resources. It was empirically found that most of the students were much motivated during the entire learning process, in conducting active learning, collaborative learning and inquiry-based learning. Moreover, it was also found that after the VISOLE process, the students gained their self-constructed subject knowledge, enhanced generic skills for problem solving and improved non-intelligent skills, particularly in terms of attitudes and emotions. / Under the present theoretical context of learning, digital games and game-based learning, this dissertation exploited and reinforced the VISOLE learning paradigm. It also delineated the design and development of the first VISOLE game---"Farmtasia" and presented the empirical research on investigating the educational realization and accomplishment of VISOLE. / 尚俊傑. / Adviser: Fong Lok Lee. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0495. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 516-536). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Shang Junjie.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree in Master of Technology: Education, Durban University of Technology, 2009. / This study investigated key factors impacting on blended learning delivery with particular focus on socio-cultural and human-computer-interface issues, in the hope that the outcome of this enquiry might contribute positively towards the empowerment of learners and facilitators alike. The study involved a group of first year students enrolled in a Communications Skills Course offered by the (then) Department of English and Communication at the Durban University of Technology. The PRINTS Project, a webquest around which the course activities were based, provided an example of a blended delivery course in practice. While the teaching paradigm used in the course was constructivist, the research orientation employed in this project was critical realist. Critical realism focuses on transformation through praxis and also lends itself to modelling, which provides a way to understand the factors at play within a social system. In the preliminary stages of the research, an exploratory empirical (i.e. applied) model of blended learning delivery was formulated from a theoretical model of course delivery in order to assess which factors in blended learning were systemic and which were variables. The investigation then sought to uncover key factors impacting on the blended delivery system, utilising both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The findings were analysed in terms of the empirical model to gain an understanding of any factors that might be seen to either enhance or inhibit learning in blended delivery mode. The result was that certain core issues in blended learning and teaching could be clarified, including the use, advantages and disadvantages of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in a learning environment. The notion of the digital divide could also be reconceptualised, and the relationship between literacy (be it academic, professional or social), power and culture could be further elucidated, drawing specific attention to the South African educational environment. The notion of iv culture and its relevance in a blended delivery environment was also further clarified, since the findings of this research project suggested how and why certain key socio-cultural factors might impact, as both enhancers and inhibitors, on the blended learning delivery system.

Distance education has by nature always depended on technology as a vehicle for various media used to facilitate learning. Today as technology has taken centre stage in our lives especially Internet-based technology, distance education continues to grow in its use of state-of-the-art tools and hence the need to effectively adopt these online tools for online education remains inevitable. This study presents an evaluation of the usability of social media blends in e-learning environments. Comprehensive guidelines for improving the usability of social media blends are proposed in order to facilitate learner networks where knowledge can be created that is based on the leaners’ experiences and their peer connections. In this meta-analysis study literature was searched to identify qualitative research articles that discuss social media blends most commonly used in e-learning. The search was done on South African and international academic databases which included SAe-Publications, EbscoHost, ProQuest and Google Scholar, among others. The metadata analysis was conducted following the online collaborative learning theory as a conceptual framework and the findings agreed with previous studies that the use of social media blends still lacks important empirical data. This study recommends a set of phases in designing curriculum for social media use in e-learning. The proposed guidelines should be useful to instructional designers interested in using modern learning theories in e-learning. Since African qualitative research could not be found, further work in this field could involve qualitative studies on the use of e-learning in African institutions. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Open and Distance Learning)

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)

Cette thèse identifie et vise à affronter certains verrous scientifiques concernant la conception des scenarios des serious games, leurs utilisations par un meilleur partage entre les concepteurs dans des contextes d’apprentissage ciblés. Les constats motivant ce travail sont (1) la participation indispensable des formateurs dans la phase de conception en se basant sur leurs expertises et leurs objectifs pédagogiques, (2) la nécessité grandissante pour les formateurs experts de formaliser les scénarios décrivant les situations complexes rarement se produisant, (3) la non-adéquation des systèmes-auteurs des jeux sérieux existants à cette population de concepteurs, permettant seulement un nombre limité de scénarios à cause de leurs couts élevés, (4) le faible niveau de réutilisation des scénarios déjà produits dans la vie quotidienne. Notre problématique consiste à lever certains verrous existants dans la conception des jeux sérieux pour la formation dans des domaines d’expertises complexes avec l’hypothèse qu’une meilleure organisation de la connaissance et de la coopération va faciliter la conception. L’étude de cette problématique s’effectue en proposant l’architecture ARGILE (Architecture for Representations, Games, Interactions, and Learning among Experts) adaptée au jeu sérieux « participatif et intensif en connaissances » / This PhD aims to confront some scientific challenges concerning the scenarios’ conception of Serious Games, their use through a better share by designers within the context of targeted learning. The findings motivating our work are (1) the significant participation of trainers in the design phase, (2) the growing needs for expert trainers to formalize scenarios describing rarely complex situations, (3) the divergence of existing serious games to these designers which cover a limited number of scenarios due to their high cost, (4) the low re-use’ level of scenarios that have already happened in daily life.Our questioning will lead us to see how we must design serious games for training in complex areas of expertise where reference knowledge is neither stabilized nor unanimous, but rather dynamic and continuously evolving. After having examined the principal mains of application of the Serious Game and having defined it, the study of this questioning led us to propose the ARGILE (Architecture for Representations, Games, Interactions, and Learning Among Experts) architecture, suitable for "participatory and knowledge-intensive" serious games

A comparative evaluation framework of instructional interventions for implementation of online training for public library staff would enable a better understanding of how to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and efficacy of training in certain training environments. This dissertation describes a quasi-experimental study of a two-week, asynchronous online training course that was provided at four levels of instructional intervention to public library staff in the United States. The course content addressed the complex issues of difficult patron policy development and situational coping techniques. The objective of the study was to develop and demonstrate a theoretically grounded, evidence-based impact evaluation framework. The framework was used to assess the relative impact of an online course for public librarians at four levels of instructional intervention. The researcher investigated the relationships between the type of e-Training instructional interventions and the short- and long-term impacts on participants' knowledge, self-efficacy, and workplace performance. The study used a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design that included a pretest, posttest and three-month delayed posttest with follow-up survey. 194 participants completed all three phases of the study. The evaluation tools measured course content related knowledge and self-efficacy at all three phases (pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest) and assessed workplace application of training at 3-month follow-up. The results of this study contributed to evaluation theory and learning theory literature applied to the online learning environment and informed public library staff online training practices and evaluation methodologies.

This study seeks to explore, using an interpretivist phenomenological approach, how humor may impact rapport, engagement, and motivation in graduate online learning environments. Through detailed qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews, direct observation, and demographic survey data, emergent themes were identified that support the use of appropriate humor to create a positive online environment in which learning can take place. Evidence indicates that humor, when used purposefully and appropriately, is a valuable tool for promoting rapport and engagement amongst course members through community-building and enhanced interpersonal connections. The results of this study reveal the importance of finding common ground and shared experiences to improve the overall social and communicative culture of an online course. The results also support the idea that online instructors should make a great effort in connecting with students in online courses and must make a greater effort to appropriately engage in their online courses. Appropriate recommendations are made for practical application of humor to support pedagogy, as well as recommendations for future research on humor in educational environments.

The purpose of this study was to better understand student learning in asynchronous computer-conference discourse (ASD) for non-native speakers of English in India through the Community of Inquiry (COI) framework. The study looked at ASD from an online course taught in the fall of 2015 to 25 students in a seminary in South India. All but one of the students were non-native speakers of English. The class consisted of 22 men and 3 women. Eight students spoke languages from the Dravidian family of languages (Malayalam, Tamil, Telegu and Kannada). Eight students were from the Northeastern states of Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura, where most languages are from the Sino-Tibetan family. Three students were native speakers of Indo-Aryan languages (Odiya and Assamese). Five students were from Myanmar representing several Sino-Tibetan languages. The COI is a framework used to understand learning in ASD, often used in online learning. To study the ASD of this group, critical discourse analysis (CDA) was used with the COI to capture the unique socio-cultural and linguistic conditions of this group. The study revealed that non-native speakers of English often reach the Exploration phase of learning but rarely show evidence of reaching the Resolution phase. This phenomenon was also observed in native English speakers as reported in the literature. Also, the structure of ASD showed that students took an examination approach to discussion shaped in part by their epistemology. This examination approach shaped how knowledge was constructed. CDA also showed that the discourse acquired an instructor-centered structure in which Resolution and Repair were initiated and finalized by the instructor. The study advances the COI framework by undergirding it with a theory of asynchronous discourse using critical discourse analysis and capturing cognitive, social and teaching presence phenomena for non-native speakers that were not observed through the traditional COI framework. These phenomena were driven by cultural, epistemological, and linguistic forces and require a rethinking of the COI for contexts outside of North America. The study also demonstrates that learning for non-native speakers in ASD is challenged by these very same forces. Therefore, design for online learning should account for these phenomena.