Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:35:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1640.pdf: 4365691 bytes, checksum: 451de24779c6844de902661f5dd98e13 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-12 / This doctorate thesis identifies and analyzes the contributions of two online distance minicourses to the knowledge base (specific knowledge of geometry, pedagogical knowledge of geometry and pedagogical reasoning processes) of thirteen elementary school teachers who teach geometry from the 1st to the 4th grades. They were participating in a teachers training program called Programa de Apoio aos Educadores: espaço de desenvolvimento profissional, and were members of Portal dos Professores UFSCar (www.portaldosprofessores.ufscar.br), a website which provides teachers with professional support. It is a qualitative intervention research which employs a collaborative and constructive methodology for training teachers. The mini-courses, developed for that purpose, were given totally at distance through the virtual learning environment WebCT. The theoretical basis encompasses teachers training, knowledge base for teaching and distance learning via the Internet as a resource for training teachers. The data, which were collected through digital tools (forum, e-mail, chat room, tasks, message board etc.) and non-digital tools (application forms and questionnaires), were analyzed to show the impact the mini-courses had on the teachers` knowledge base. The results showed their knowledge was significantly enhanced and they could think over the teaching of geometry and their own teaching. The results also showed the strong and weak points of training teachers at distance using the virtual learning environment WebCT and the methodology adopted. To conclude, the study offers suggestions for public policies on distance training for teachers via the Internet and for courses in virtual learning environments similar to WebCT / Este estudo identifica e analisa as contribuições de dois Minicursos à distância, via Internet, à base de conhecimento (Conhecimento do Conteúdo Específico de Geometria, Conhecimento Pedagógico do Conteúdo de Geometria e Processos de Raciocínio Pedagógico) de treze professoras que ensinam Geometria da 1ª à 4ª série do Ensino Fundamental, associadas ao "Programa de Apoio aos Educadores: Espaço de Desenvolvimento Profissional" e ao site Portal dos Professores da UFSCar (www.portaldosprofessores.ufscar.br). Nesta pesquisaintervenção, de natureza qualitativa, foi adotada a metodologia construtivo-colaborativa para a formação continuada de professores. Os Minicursos, desenvolvidos para esse fim, foram implementados totalmente à distância, por meio do ambiente virtual de aprendizagem WebCT. O referencial teórico abarca a aprendizagem profissional da docência, a base de conhecimento para o ensino e a Educação a Distância via Internet como recurso para a formação de professores. Os dados, coletados por meio de ferramentas digitais (fórum, correio eletrônico, bate-papo, tarefas/atividades, quadro de comunicações etc.) e não digitais (fichas de inscrição e questionários), foram analisados com vistas à verificação do impacto dos Minicursos na base de conhecimento das professoras-alunas. Os resultados demonstraram que elas ampliaram significativamente sua base de conhecimento para o ensino de Geometria e tiveram a oportunidade de refletir, de forma crítica e fundamentada, sobre o ensino de Geometria e sobre a própria prática pedagógica, modificando-a de forma sustentada. Os resultados indicaram, também, a potencialidade, as dificuldades e os limites da formação de professores a distância por meio do ambiente WebCT e da metodologia utilizada. Na conclusão, são apresentadas sugestões para políticas públicas de formação inicial e continuada de professores, no âmbito da Educação a Distância via Internet, e para o desenvolvimento de cursos em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem com características similares às do WebCT

The primary goal of this project has been to research and create aesthetic visual environments in distance-learning media through the application of expert criteria and to explore the effects of those environments on student satisfaction and motivation. To accomplish this three instructors with distinct courses were selected to apply aesthetic criteria within the process of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Courses selected were Art Appreciation -- ARTS 1100, Advanced Surveying -- ENGR 2502, and Introduction to Sociology -- SOCI 1101. The project goal was subdivided into four objectives. 1) Develop criteria for the inclusion of visual aesthetics in the online environment. 2) Design and develop online courses using guidelines for the inclusion of aesthetics. 3) Collect and compare data from students about the level of satisfaction with the aesthetic appearance of the online environment. 4) Explore the effect of an aesthetic environment on student motivation. This project has demonstrated the environments of distance learning courses can be improved through the application of aesthetic principles. The selected criteria were useful to this Instructional Designer and could prove successful in improving the appearance of other online courses.

College and university teacher education programs are not, and should not be, exempt from the growing demand for distance education opportunities. Science teacher education is no exception to this growing demand. While there are some distance-learning courses and even complete programs for teacher education, the majority of these are offered as continuing education or post-graduate education opportunities. The number of programs offered specifically in science teacher education (either undergraduate or post-graduate) is extremely limited. Those distance-learning classes that are available for teacher education rarely reflect the instruction expected from teachers by the National Science Education Standards when they enter the K-12 classroom. With the demand for distance education rising, it is important to determine if it is possible for the distance-learning format to be an effective form of delivery for quality preservice science teacher education programs. The research herein took the form of a qualitative case study of two sections of a Science Technology and Society Interaction (STS) course offered via a distance-learning format. (For the purposes of this study, distance-learning courses are defined as those that are offered using online delivery.) The research investigated the extent to which the course incorporated the principles of science education reform. The study took the form of an evaluative case study and provided a rich description of the course itself as well as the nature of the interactions and meanings constructed by students. The course was determined to be an example of a distance learning opportunity that exhibits the desired ideology. Insights gained here were used to illuminate some guiding principles for developing courses for distance delivery that exhibit principles consistent with science education reform.

Learning management systems(LMSs) have become one of the most common computer systems adopted at universities, colleges and distance learning organizations. In order to identify different features and accordance of each LMS, LMSs’ features were compared by using four different categories; communication tools, productivity and student involvement tools, course delivery tools, and administration tools. Based upon the comparison of the different features affecting different usage patterns, this paper proposes a classification of seven selected LMSs; ANGEL, Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai, WebCT, Ning and Elgg. These seven LMSs are classified into three groups according to systems’ pedagogical adaptability and technological usability. The classification seeks to understand the possibilities and limitations of what these classified groups of LMSs can accomplish and is used to suggest a suitable usage in order to support teaching and learning. The proposed classification implies the need of future exploratory case study analyzing teaching and learning practices according to the classification. / text

The main goal of the Master’s theses is to raise joint stock company „Lintel“ workers self-reliance and help them to plan monthly knowledge evaluation. Quick information technologies development becomes the most important reason for requirements chancing to education. Workers must learning all live and raise qualification if they want to survive in work market. Quick chance of information is very important not only for joint stock company „Lintel“. This problem is important for all companies, which work in information sector. Distance learning is the way, which can help to workers learning where they want; when they want and choose a temp how quickly they want to learn information. Workers can learn without going out from the work for a long time. The most important subject in this kind of studies is student. Students in distance learning course can study information, make self-tests and quizzes. The results of quizzes and self-tests allow to workers to know limitation of they profession knowledge’s.

The purpose of this study was to measure differences in learning styles in an online E-Commerce I class in public secondary schools in North Carolina. Students' observations and achievements were evaluated by gender, grade level, course of study, online experience, and expected grade. This type of study could identify relationships between the online model and the four areas evaluated. This information may aid designers of online curricula as well as the teachers. The literature review covered several topics including technology, online learning, gender-based education, learning styles, maturity, and expectations. Each topic was related to the success of students in an online environment. This quantitative study was conducted using a survey-design method. The survey was designed using online survey software. Specifically, the survey concentrated on the differences and successes in an online class. With online education growing in popularity, educators need to evaluate the reasons behind success or failure. Independent sample t tests and a one way ANOVA were used to determine the significance of each research question. The survey dealt with 3 different dimensions, the learning style dimension, the experience dimension, and the opinion dimension. Findings showed significant differences in 2 areas, age and expected grade. The data showed a significant difference between juniors and seniors in all 3 dimensions of the survey. The findings also showed significant findings in all 3 dimensions of the survey in regard to expected grade. Recommendations for future research, conclusions, and recommendations for practice are also included.

The purpose of this research study was to use the Technology Acceptance Model (Pan, 2003) for re-examination of the relationships between students' attitude toward the use of WebCT and the relevance of the actual usage in light of social presence and sociability. By using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by F. Davis (1989), this study focused on variables such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, computer self-efficacy, subjective norms, attitude and actual use of WebCT to account for the effect towards the achievement in the exam which is an outcome variable. The data were collected over three different time periods during the spring semester of 2007 to find how these results changed over time. The participants were the students who enrolled in the business marketing course (Principle of marketing) at the University of Central Florida in spring, 2007. The course was divided to three sections: on-campus, video-streaming and online classes. Although there were three different delivery methods, there was only one instructor and they used same material for all sections so the results were used to compare the differences from three classes. The study was conducted by using instruments to measure perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, computer self-efficacy, subjective norms, actual use, attitude, sociability, social presence and an additional demographic instrument.

The purpose of this research was to examine students' acceptance of the World Wide Web Course Tools (WebCT) online learning system. The Perceived Resources and Technology Acceptance Model (PRATAM) was created based on previous research to address the factors of perceived resources, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward using, behavioral intention to use and actual system use. The aim for this research was to investigate the critical determinants and provide the causal relationships regarding students' acceptance behaviors when using WebCT. While institutions are expecting to adopt online learning to reach more students, there are still many challenges for institutions to retain students in their online courses. The literature review conducted in this research indicated that the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has successfully explained students' behaviors when they use educational information systems. In addition, the additional perceived resources variable in the PRATAM also showed a significant influence on the other belief and intention variables. The study analyzed a total of 115 students responses in two surveys administered during two WebCT based courses taught at a large southeastern public university. The beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behavioral constructs of PRATAM showed significant goodness-of-fit indices and coefficient of determination after analyzing the data in both surveys. However, the results indicated several exceptions on PRATAM's constructs and causal relationships. First, the path coefficient between perceived resources to behavioral intention to use in both pre-test and post-test were insignificant. Second, the path coefficient between behavioral intention to use and actual system use in pre-test was insignificant. Third, the path coefficient between perceived resources and perceived usefulness in post-test were insignificant. In addition, the research also suggested an additional link between perceived ease of use and behavioral intention to use at the pre-test data. Overall, this research validated the influences of PRATAM's constructs factors to students' acceptance behaviors toward WebCT. The findings of this research could provide a guideline for future implementations of online learning systems in higher education.

This monograph documents my effort as well as examines the process of developing sustainable support in the use of instructional technology in a consulting project over a ten month period. It is written in a narrative recording the occurrences and my interventions during this ten-month period, along wdth my reflections in italics in light of the review of the literature and the analysis of the narrative. This results in a deeper understanding and insights in the field of instructional technology, and leads to the elaboration of a mission statement, which represents my present thinking about instructional design and consultation.

The purpose of the study is to explore students’ experiences of WebCT at the University of Pretoria. In order to find out about these experiences, the Department of Telematic Learning and Education Innovation administered a web-based survey to students at the University of Pretoria. At the end of each semester students are requested to complete WebCT Experience Survey voluntarily. The WebCT Experience Survey includes both qualitative and quantitative data for research (TLEI Annual Report, 2003). The focus of this research is more on qualitative data which includes the open-ended questions. The researcher used conceptual analysis to evaluate the open-ended questions in the survey (Busch et al., 2005). The challenges and benefits were coded for their frequency and relevance. The researcher then identified codes to identify the benefits and challenges of students using WebCT. The findings of the research were grouped in terms of technical, facilitation and content issues. The study indicates that students benefited from using WebCT. / Dissertation (Magister Educationis (Computer-Integrated Education))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted