A wide variety of media can be used in learning, including distance learning, such as print, lectures, conference sections, tutors, pictures, video, sound, and computers. Any one instance of distance learning will make choices among these media, perhaps using several.

Multimedia in Learning

E-Moderators are \"the new generation of teachers and trainers who work with learners online\" (p. viii) using Computer-Mediated Conferencing (CMC) as a learning tool, regardless of the subject they are teaching. They are the focus of E-Moderating, a recent book which provides both a theoretical framework for developing online learning using CMC (part one), and a wealth of practical advice (part two). The book is supported by a Web site. The author, Gilly Salmon, a distance education specialist with the Open University Business School in the UK, provides a five-step model of effective online education, along with copious examples of how the model relates to real-life online learning contexts. Salmon proposes that, by basing learning on a constructivist model, it is e-moderators that can make the difference in online education as they convene, direct, summarize, and archive synchronous and asynchronous discussions.

/pdf/e-moderating-the-key-to-teaching-and-learning-online-149mr9c3qc.pdf

E-Moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online

The challenge of problem-based learning

There is substantial evidence that scientific teaching in the sciences, ie teaching that employs instructional strategies that encourage undergraduates to become actively engaged in their own learning, can produce levels of understanding, retention and transfer of knowledge that are greater than those resulting from traditional lecture/lab classes But widespread acceptance by university faculty of new pedagogies and curricular materials still lies in the future In this essay we review recent literature that sheds light on the following questions:

 We conclude that widespread promotion and adoption of the elements of scientific teaching by university science departments could have profound effects in promoting a scientifically literate society and a reinvigorated research enterprise

The Impending Revolution in Undergraduate Science Education.

The flipped classroom is an instructional model in which students viewed the learning content before class through instructor-provided video lectures or other pre-class learning materials, and in-class time is used for student-centered active learning. Video is widely utilized as a typical pre-class learning material in the flipped classroom. This paper reports the findings from a survey about students’ attitudes and preferences regarding the pre-class learning experiences in an undergraduate science course that utilized a flipped classroom model. Findings demonstrate that students had positive attitudes towards using pre-class videos in the flipped classroom. Students had different perceptions towards the four types of pre-class learning materials used in this course, including three types of videos and text-formatted materials. Students’ attitudes and preferences on pre-class learning materials did not differ across class levels, major fields, or previous experience of learning via videos. Students suggested that pre-class videos should be kept short and engaging.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11528-016-0045-4

Students’ Perceptions of the Value of Using Videos as a Pre-class Learning Experience in the Flipped Classroom

Video as a tool for teaching and learning in higher education is a multimedia application with considerable promise. Including video within the online support material for a module can help students to gain an understanding of the material and prepare for assessment. We have experimented with using short videos that summarise the lectures given, as an aid for students to use when revising. An interpretive method has been adopted to investigate the use students make of these videos, during the teaching term and when revising for assessment. In this paper a summary of ways that video can be used for supporting teaching and learning is given, the ways in which we used video are presented followed by discussion of some issues relating to producing summary length videos. Preliminary research indicates that students find these summary lectures very useful for reviewing lecture material as well as for their revision.

/pdf/using-video-to-record-summary-lectures-to-aid-students-1txwf6jt7q.pdf

Using Video to Record Summary Lectures to Aid Students' Revision

Online learning is facilitated by various forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). In higher education, CMC presents an opportunity to expand the learning community, even across national borders. This paper reports on two cycles of action research into the use of online discussion forums to enable groups of students from different countries to collaborate with each other in achieving learning outcomes specific to each group. The research data was obtained from questionnaires
and focus groups with students and analysis of the content of the online discussion. The discussion was focused on the
evaluation of prototype learning systems, produced by one group of students and evaluated by groups from two institutions in different countries, each of which had different, yet reciprocal, objectives to achieve from participating in the activity. The findings highlight the potential complexity of such an asymmetric collaborative activity, but indicate several advantages to students when the activity forms a distinct part of the pedagogical framework of their modules. For tutors planning similar
trans-national collaborations, guidance points are offered that incorporate the findings from the research.

Discussion across Borders: Benefits for Collaborative Learning

This paper presents a case study, in which a new module, aimed at enhancing students’ employ-ability skills, is evaluated. Employability skills for graduates from higher education are regarded as essential outcomes from their degree programmes, but it can be difficult to provide appropriate opportunities to develop these skills in the context of their studies. This paper describes a new module, called Live Projects, designed to provide project based learning on campus, but involv-ing local businesses and organisations, to provide the projects and become clients for a team of students.
Evaluation of the first year of running the module was through a student questionnaire, client sur-veys and assessment by the tutors. Results showed satisfaction from students and clients with the outcomes. Students reported a positive experience, and recognised that they had developed em-ployability skills, such as team working, project management and professional skills. Clients re-ported a good level of satisfaction with the outputs from the projects, and were enthusiastic in supporting the venture, seeing the benefits employers might gain from employing students who have developed these skills. The partnership between the university and local organisations is also an important form of engagement with the local community.

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Evaluation of a Team Project Based Learning Module for Developing Employability Skills

Online learning is now a reality, with distributed learning and blended learning becoming more widely used in Higher Education. Novel ways in which undergraduate and postgraduate learning material can be presented are being developed, and methods for helping students to learn online
are needed, especially if we require them to collaborate with each other on learning activities.
Agents to provide a supporting role for students have evolved from Artificial Intelligence research, and their strength lies in their ease of operation over networks as well as their ability to act in response to stimuli.
In this paper an application of a software agent is described, aimed at supporting students working on team projects in the online learning environment. Online teamwork is problematical for a number of reasons, such as getting acquainted with team members, finding out about other team members’ abilities, agreeing who should do which tasks, communications between team members and keeping up to date with progress that has been made on the project. Software agents have the ability to monitor progress and to offer advice by operating in the background, acting autonomously when the need arises.
An agent prototype has been developed in Prolog to perform a limited set of functions to support students. Team projects have a planning, doing and completing stage, all of which require them to have some sort of agent support. This agent at present supports part of the planning stage, by prompting the students to input their likes, dislikes and abilities for a selection of task areas defined for the project. The agent then allocates the various tasks to the students according to predetermined rules.
The results of a trial carried out using teams working on projects, on campus, indicate that students like the idea of using this agent to help with allocating tasks. They also agreed that agent support of this type would probably be helpful to both students working on team projects with
face to face contact, as well as for teams working solely online. Work is ongoing to add more functionality to the agent and to evaluate the agent more widely.

/pdf/an-agent-system-to-support-student-teams-working-online-xocgumthif.pdf

Janice Whatley

Papers

Using Video to Record Summary Lectures to Aid Students' Revision

Discussion across Borders: Benefits for Collaborative Learning

Evaluation of a Team Project Based Learning Module for Developing Employability Skills

An Agent System to Support Student Teams Working Online

Intelligent agents to support students working in groups online