Computer-assisted instruction has been around for some time, but only in the last few years have economists begun using the tools of local area networks and the Internet for teaching purposes. Instructors have used Gopher, electronic mail, and list-servs or newsgroups for disseminating information about their courses and have even held rudimentary electronic discussions outside of the classroom.' But more recent technologies such as groupware hold greater promise. Groupware is a generic term for network-based software designed to facilitate group activities such as discussions, debates, joint papers, or team projects. Groupware combines elements of Web pages, electronic bulletin boards, and discussion lists to create a shared hypermedia environment in which multiple users can read and edit each other's files synchronously or asynchronously. The market leader is Lotus NOTES, although a variety of other products are available.2 Originally intended to enhance business decisionmaking processes, this class of software has potential for classroom use as well.3 Imagine a discussion of a topic that takes place, not in a classroom on a given day but rather electronically over days or even weeks, where participants have the time and opportunity to reflect and explore the various issues. Use of software does not preclude face-toface classroom meetings, but it certainly goes beyond them. In addition to traditional text materials, participants may draw on electronic documents supplied by the instructor or available from the Internet. Over the course of the discussion, participants literally construct a reusable base of knowledge. The theoretical justification for using groupware comes from the active learning paradigm known as constructivism. Using traditional pedagogy, an instructor might present a lecture, that is, the refined product of his own research, whereas a constructivist would provide an environment in which students construct their own understanding of the source materials (e.g., a class discussion). A constructivist might ask students to read from a bibliography of sources instead of a textbook. Although a lecturer is likely to deliver a better product, in the sense of a more knowledgeable interpretation of the literature, proponents of constructivism argue that students are likely to learn more from the process of digging through the materials. Jonassen et al. (1995, 16) explain, "knowledge construction occurs when stu

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1183031.pdf

Using Groupware to Enhance Teaching and Learning in Undergraduate Economics.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of student motivation and perceived online social presence in an online course. Better understanding of the relationship between online social presence and motivation would assist researchers to identify and develop effective instructional strategies for the success of students’ online learning experience. This study was conducted during the Fall 2007 semester at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida. Data for this study were collected from participating students enrolled in three online sections of EME 2040, Introduction of Educational Technology. In this course, pre-service teachers learn how to use technology and, more importantly, how to integrate it into their courses and their future classrooms. Three instruments were used in this study to obtain students’ demographic information and to measure students’ online social presence feeling, students’ motivation levels, and instructors’ verbal immediacy behaviors. Data were analyzed using repeated measure and multiple linear regression analysis. Seventy-four students from three online sections of EME 2040 responded to the study. Results suggested that students’ level of online social presence increased significantly from the beginning of the semester to midterm and then dropped back to the original level from midterm to the end of the semester. However, the level of student motivation significantly increased only from the beginning of the semester to midterm and remained at same level for the rest of the semester. There were significant correlations between online social presence and student motivation across the semester. The regression analysis indicated that verbal immediacy affected online social presence significantly. Further research should be conducted with a larger sample and with different types of online courses in different academic settings and course

/pdf/the-relationship-between-motivation-and-online-social-3r1v6uk34e.pdf

The relationship between motivation and online social presence in an online class

Reform has been a feature of the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) system for more than a decade. The Portfolio tracks the theme of reform through the sub-themes of e-education and globalisation, considering each as a set of changing hegemonic discourses that have redefined VET over the intervening years. Into this mix it is speculated a third sub-theme, that of social capital development, is now emerging. The new social paradigm however is likely to create new uncertainties and expectations in a system that struggles to cope with existing reforms.

/pdf/the-pulse-of-change-e-education-and-other-reforming-ofoq1ieear.pdf

The pulse of change : e-education and other reforming influences on vocational education and training

Technology has been touted as an effective method to improve teaching and learning; yet, few researchers have examined the use of technology in traditional lecture-based instruction to improve student engagement or provide feedback about student learning to the instructor. The exploratory study described in this article examined the use of group response technology (GRT) to gather student responses during instruction in a preservice special education course. Classroom observation data indicated no differences in engagement between preservice teachers who used GRT and those who used hand-written journals; however, the use of GRT provided the instructor with real-time data about student learning. These data challenged the instructor's conceptions of lecture-based instruction, causing increased attention to and heightened knowledge of student learning, which, in turn, resulted in changes in instructional practices. The potential of GRT use for increasing the effectiveness of instruction in higher education a...

Group Response Technology in Lecture-based Instruction: Exploring Student Engagement and Instructor Perceptions

Hypoeutectic Silumin to Pressure Die Casting with Vanadium and Tungsten

Like many school systems across the country, the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) is faced with increased public expectations and demands while concurrently battling budget reductions. Current conditions require efficient and effective utilization of financial and personnel resources in order to be successful in developing literate students. In early 1996, the newly appointed Superintendent of Education in Hawaii set a vision for education focusing on literacy through a program called The Success Compact. The program emphasizes a consistent instructional process, within a school community, that leads to reading, writing and relating across content areas. While a focus on literacy is not new, the process is unique in its emphasis on two critical components: teaming and leveraging the internal intellectual assets of DOE staff. These two parts of the process require constant collaboration and information dissemination among education personnel. Groupware technology was identified as the mechanism that could efficiently and effectively support statewide collaboration and information dissemination. Hawaii DOE's administrative offices identified Lotus Notes as the de facto standard for communication, collaboration and information dissemination. There are approximately 4,200 users in 231 of our 243 schools and administrative offices with Lotus Notes licenses. The Lotus Total Campus Option Plan was purchased, allowing the Hawaii DOE to install server and client software, on a variety of platforms, anywhere in its public school system. * What Is Groupware? Groupware can be summarized as software that makes the process of people working together more effective. This compares with previous desktop computing innovations -- word processing, spreadsheets and the like -- that made individual users more productive. Organizations have progressed beyond enhancing individual performance and are now applying tools to promote group or team effectiveness. Team structures are present in almost every organization today. However, teams are merely organizational structures to rally people to meet common goals. To improve team performance, a facility is needed to help them effectively interact beyond traditional communication channels. Groupware is the fabric over which people communicate, share and track information, access external resources, and interact with each other electronically, unencumbered by barriers of time and distance. The Lotus Notes groupware package was utilized in Hawaii because it closely fit the team and knowledge-sharing requirements envisioned by our DOE model. It is also identified as the dominant groupware product on the market, has advanced server replication functionality and, most importantly, cross-platform client availability. Server replication is an issue because of the large-scale nature of any technological deployment in Hawaii, with the 240 schools falling under the single SEA/LEA structure. Cross-platform client portability is critical to many K-12 systems because of their mix of Windows and Macintosh workstations. While there are many categories of groupware, an oversimplified list of functions best describes groupware as an integrated messaging, bulletin board, document-management and application-development environment. * Obstacles Faced Prior to Groupware While students throughout Hawaii were being educated and the DOE operated before groupware implementation, it was clear that tasks were not occurring as efficiently as they could have been and processes such as collaboration were not engaged in as often as they should have been. Being an island-state, the obstacles to increased collaboration and information sharing are obvious. Improved efficiency and effectiveness are often not identified as necessary enhancements when an organization has been operating in a static mode for a number of years. On the more technical side, potential obstacles related to system scalability and enhancement could become serious challenges in the future utilization of technology to effectively support instruction if there is a lack of integration between application functionality. …

Clyde Shiigi

Papers

Groupware: Improving Group Communication and Information Dissemination.