scholarly journals The Transformation to an Online Course in Higher Education Results in Better Student Academic Performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Freire ◽  
Carolina Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Digital Learning Environment ◽  
Traditional Course ◽  
Student Academic Performance ◽  
The Face ◽  
E Learning

Pandemic-forced remote teaching has highlighted the relevance of redesigning planification in order to transform face-to-face into online courses in higher education. Indeed, the type of e-learning activities, e-assessment and development of student-centred active learning tasks remains a challenge. In this work we investigated the academic performance of an online learning environment in a course with high number of enrolled students carried out in the pandemic context in 2020 and compared it to the 2019 face-to-face version of the course. The e-learning version of the course included some changes regarding the face-to-face to allow active student learning, digital learning environment, knowledge enforcement, and further exploitation of the available activities in the Moodle platform as for the face-to-face course, although the syllabus remained unchanged. This study finds both synchronous and asynchronous problem-solving based e-learning together with self-assessment and team-based continuous and individual questionnaire assessments to be valuable instructional methods that allowed higher student academic performance in comparison to the face-to-face academic student results. Furthermore, the academic performance was directly related to the student participation in both team-based and individual activities during the course, demonstrating that the adaptation of the face-to-face course to the e-learning environment was, at least, as efficient as the traditional course, despite student resistance to e-learning and e-assessment.

The Blended Learning Ecosystem of an Academic Institution in Greece

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara Nikolaidou ◽  
Chryssa Sofianopoulou ◽  
Nancy Alexopoulou ◽  
Kostas Abeliotis ◽  
Vassilis Detsis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Academic Institution ◽  
Academic Environment ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Learning Capabilities ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Learning Ecosystem ◽  
Enhanced Learning

Blended learning has been recognized as the most promising emerging trend in higher education, offering new capabilities, as it may significantly enhance the interaction and communication between instructors and students. The challenge of blended learning is to balance weaknesses and strengths of face-to-face and e-learning teaching environments and effectively combining them to provide enhanced learning capabilities. Its success should benefit instructor-student relation. To this end, the authors adopt ecosystem-based approach to model the blended learning environment and identify its constituents, i.e., instructors, students, consultants, technology. and their evolving relations. The proposed concept was utilized to explore the potential of blended learning in the academic environment. A study was conducted at Harokopio University of Athens over a period of three years to explore the relations between blended learning ecosystem constituents, focusing on instructor -student relation.

scholarly journals EXPERIENCE OF DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ MULTIMODAL LITERACY IN THE DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svitlana V. Fedorenko
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Multimodal Literacy ◽  
Digital Learning Environment ◽  
Multicultural Literacy

The paper presents a theoretical overview of the notion “multimodal literacy” in the context of the multiliteracies pedagogy focusing on the research relevant to developing notions of literacy for twenty-first century higher education standards. The relevance of the topic is explained by the fact that the modern world is becoming more and more pluralist and increasingly dependent on new technologies and different modes of communication, students require new transdisciplinary skills and methods of learning. The author examines the changing pattern of literacy as broad, multidimensional knowledge, skills and attitudes. Literacy is viewed as a personal sociocultural capacity the development of which provides every student with the rules how to solve problems, to relate to others and survive in diverse social settings, and creates numerous opportunities for enhancing critical thinking and reflection as well. The foundation for students’ multimodal literacy in the digital learning environment of a higher education institution through theoretical and applied frameworks of visual, media, information and multicultural literacy is considered. The diverse affordance of digital tools and range of multimodal genres offer engaging new avenues for students’ creative expression on the basis of developing multimodal literacy. It is emphasized that successful life in a world of multimodal information requires fluency in a broad range of literacies to consume and create texts in visual, audio, and written formats, to evaluate messages in a variety of mediums, and to gain sociocultural awareness and the ability to communicate and live in a global diverse society. Pedagogic techniques across disciplines (multimodal essay, digital mapping project) are highlighted in view of their effectiveness in developing multicultural literacy of undergraduate students. It is an empowering practice for modern educators to incorporate multimodal tasks into a diverse learning environment, which teaches critical thinking and multimodal skills, enhances audio-visual rhetoric, develops writing and oral communication skills, and aids in self-expression and self-reflection.

scholarly journals Fostering democratic education in foundational units for mature age students in higher education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ameena Leah Payne
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Democratic Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Digital Learning Environment ◽  
Online Spaces

Today’s learners are entering the digital learning environment with a variety of pre-existing knowledge, aptitudes, opinions, values and capabilities which impact how they engage with and construe information. This conceptual article offers suggestions to higher education institutions and educators on ways to improve the learning environment for the increasing mature age student cohort, including how mature age students can be better supported to succeed in their educational journey by fostering democratic education online spaces.

Is Digital Age “A Tsunami” for Distance Education?

2017 ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Ugur Demiray
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Digital Learning Environment ◽  
Face To Face Learning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Distance Educators

A popular question between academics is quite discussing about “is digital age really a “TSUNAMI” for distance education field and distance educators? Up to now distance education by usage of high and digital technology has been taken in every level of education and learning environments, it creates almost limitless platform of opportunities better than face to face learning at any level of learning environment specially a digital one. Mostly, the result of the discussion on digital age is regarded a kind of “Tsunami” that changed the phase of education, especially distance education and effected learning environment in the 21st century. This paper looks into the impact and the types of evidence that are generated across initiatives, organizations and individuals in order to make a summative analysis and it has recommendations from point of functional roles of scaffolding and meta-communication perspective within digital learning environment aspect.

The Blended Learning Ecosystem of an Academic Institution in Greece

2012 ◽  
pp. 173-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara Nikolaidou ◽  
Chryssa Sofianopoulou ◽  
Nancy Alexopoulou ◽  
Kostas Abeliotis ◽  
Vassilis Detsis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Academic Institution ◽  
Academic Environment ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Learning Capabilities ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Learning Ecosystem ◽  
Enhanced Learning

Blended learning has been recognized as the most promising emerging trend in higher education, offering new capabilities, as it may significantly enhance the interaction and communication between instructors and students. The challenge of blended learning is to balance weaknesses and strengths of face-to-face and e-learning teaching environments and effectively combining them to provide enhanced learning capabilities. Its success should benefit instructor-student relation. To this end, the authors adopt ecosystem-based approach to model the blended learning environment and identify its constituents, i.e., instructors, students, consultants, technology. and their evolving relations. The proposed concept was utilized to explore the potential of blended learning in the academic environment. A study was conducted at Harokopio University of Athens over a period of three years to explore the relations between blended learning ecosystem constituents, focusing on instructor -student relation.

Pedagogical Mediator as the Strategic Competence at University Professors Building in Constructionist Online Environment

2010 ◽  
pp. 140-149
Author(s):  
Flávia Amaral Rezende
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
University Professors ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The University

The rapid dissemination and integration of the World Wide Web (also known as Internet), and its related technologies, has resulted in major growth of the educational field through the Internet in such areas as e-learning and e-training. In August 2002, the Ministry of Education established the rules for distance education courses at the university level (Portaria nº 2.253) allowing up 20% of the total course hours to be administered through distance education. At the same time, the Comitê de Educação a Distância from the Distance Education Secretary – SEED/MEC published the Distance Education Quality Indicators, which presents pedagogical guidelines that are clearly constructionist, consistent with those adopted by the Brazilian informatics in education program developed during the 1980’s and 90’s. However an important question remains: how to prepare university professors to be able to function in highly interactive constructionist learning environments? How to develop competencies as planning, designing and implementing such constructionist courses? This research has simultaneously investigated two aspects: developing, implementing and evaluating the characteristics of a constructionist environment and, at the same time,the use of this environment as part of an introductory on-line course to prepare a group of professors from Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (Brazil) to be able to function as mediators in the constructionist online learning environment. The findings indicate that it is possible to create a constructionist learning environment and to prepare university professors through online courses based upon Inverted Symmetry concepts and upon the in-service course based on the estar-junto-virtual (“virtual being together”) approach, to build what we called In-vIsIble reflectIve network, thus allowing the professors to assume news roles not only in the online environment but in the face-to-face education situation as well. This course is the first step for continuous long life learning to be a “ciber teacher”.

scholarly journals Transformative Potential of Constructivist Blended Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education

2009 ◽  
pp. 182-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roisin Donnelly
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Difference

This chapter critically explores the design and implementation of a blended problem-based learning (PBL) module for academic professional development in higher education. A core aspect of the chapter is the overview of the design framework used for the application and specific use of learning technologies in the PBL module. As it would appear that E-Learning courses are often lauded on the basis of their constructivist approach to learning, but in reality sustained inter-student contact and discussion can be difficult, an underlying purpose of the chapter is to show how interactional analysis helps in understanding the potential of transformative pedagogy within blended PBL. This chapter aims to highlight how emerging constructivist theories of learning may be applied to the blend of PBL and E-Learning. It addresses the need for an analysis of the interactions taking place in blended PBL with a specific focus on academic staff who are engaged in professional development in higher education in Ireland. It applies the relevant constructivist theories to the face-to-face PBL tutorials, online discussions, focus group interview texts and reflective papers generated over two years in a professional development module involving 17 academic staff. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the difference that the blended delivery made to both tutors and participants and discusses the design implications of a blended PBL model for the practice of academic development.

scholarly journals Investigation of Face-to-Face Class Attendance, Virtual Learning Engagement and Academic Performance in a Blended Learning Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-118
Author(s):  
Na Li ◽  
◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
Xiaojun Zhang ◽  
Roland Sherwood
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Engagement ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Class Attendance ◽  
The Face

The purpose of this research is to investigate the correlation within three key variables in relation to students’ learning outcomes: face-to-face class attendance, virtual learning engagement, and academic performance. A sample course with 3783 students’ data were analysed by applying a quantitative research methodology. The research data included one semester’s attendance records, students’ virtual learning engagement on the university centralized virtual learning environment and the average academic performance Both Spearman’s correlation coefficient and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used for the hypothesis’s tests according to the variables’ data characteristics. This research has verified the positive correlations between face-to-face class attendance and academic performance, virtual learning engagement and academic performance in a blended learning environment at a Chinese transnational university, which are consistent with existing research. The finding about the positive correlation between the face-to-face class attendance and virtual learning engagement suggests that students can benefit from both traditional and contemporary teaching formats by integrating the virtual learning elements into the face-to-face class delivery.

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