Digital Systems for Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning

Today, Digital Systems and Services for Technology Supported Learning and Education are recognized as the key drivers to transform the way that individuals, groups and organizations “learn” and the way to “assess learning” in 21st Century. These transformations influence: Objectives - moving from acquiring new “knowledge” to developing new and relevant “competences”; Methods – moving from “classroom” based teaching to “context-aware” personalized learning; and Assessment – moving from “life-long” degrees and certifications to “on-demand” and “in-context” accreditation of qualifications. Within this context, promoting Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning, is currently a key issue in the public discourse and the global dialogue on Education, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Flipped School Classrooms. This volume on Digital Systems for Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning contributes to the international dialogue between researchers, technologists, practitioners and policy makers in Technology Supported Education and Learning. It addresses emerging issues related with both theory and practice, as well as, methods and technologies that can support Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning. In the twenty chapters contributed by international experts who are actively shaping the future of Educational Technology around the world, topics such as: - The evolution of University Open Courses in Transforming Learning - Supporting Open Access to Teaching and Learning of People with Disabilities - Assessing Student Learning in Online Courses - Digital Game-based Learning for School Education - Open Access to Virtual and Remote Labs for STEM Education - Teachers’ and Schools’ ICT Competence Profiling - Web-Based Education and Innovative Leadership in a K-12 International School Setting are presented. An in-depth blueprint of the promise, potential, and imminent future of the field, Digital Systems for Open Access to Formal and Informal Learning is necessary reading for researchers and practitioners, as well as, undergraduate and postgraduate students, in educational technology.

Learning in Virtual Worlds: Research and Applications

Three-dimensional (3D) immersive virtual worlds have been touted as being capable of facilitating highly interactive, engaging, multimodal learning experiences. Much of the evidence gathered to support these claims has been anecdotal but the potential that these environments hold to solve traditional problems in online and technology-mediated education—primarily learner isolation and student disengagement—has resulted in considerable investments in virtual world platforms like Second Life, OpenSimulator, and Open Wonderland by both professors and institutions. To justify this ongoing and sustained investment, institutions and proponents of simulated learning environments must assemble a robust body of evidence that illustrates the most effective use of this powerful learning tool. In this authoritative collection, a team of international experts outline the emerging trends and developments in the use of 3D virtual worlds for teaching and learning. They explore aspects of learner interaction with virtual worlds, such as user wayfinding in Second Life, communication modes and perceived presence, and accessibility issues for elderly or disabled learners. They also examine advanced technologies that hold potential for the enhancement of learner immersion and discuss best practices in the design and implementation of virtual world-based learning interventions and tasks. By evaluating and documenting different methods, approaches, and strategies, the contributors to Learning in Virtual Worlds offer important information and insight to both scholars and practitioners in the field. AU Press is an open access publisher and the book is available for free in PDF format as well as for purchase on our website: http://bit.ly/1W4yTRA

Bringing the Community into the Classroom: Teaching Immunizations Skills via a Community-based Project

Introduction or Statement of Problem Health care profession educators are challenged in their efforts to bring clinical experiences into the class room and to introduce students to community settings early in their didactic training. An immunization program directed at improving childhood immunization rates can introduce students to the community, to students of other disciplines and reinforce the knowledge and skills needed for immunization interventions. Successful interventions increase community demand for immunizations, improve access to services, and educate providers about immunization services and disease. Interventions serve to mold attitudes among health care professionals that foster commitment to universal immunization coverage and low disease rates. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Key Aspects Affecting Students’ Perception Regarding the Instructional Quality of Online and Web Based Courses

This study assessed the perceptions of college students regarding the instructional quality of online and web based courses via a content management system. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Developing and Integrating the Management of Elder Abuse in Primary Practice: A Case Study Using A Web-Based CME Course Format

Introduction: As the population in the United States continues to age, more attention in primary practice settings is now devoted toward managing the care of the elderly. The occurrence of elder abuse is a growing problem. It is a condition many professionals in primary care may be ill prepared with the knowledge or resources to identify and manage. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Using Blackboard Administered Precourse and Post course Tests to Assess Student Readiness to Learn and Change in Knowledge

Students arrive at classes with a varying social situations and course subject knowledge. Blackboard is a web based course delivery program that permits testing of students before arriving at the first class. A pretest was used to assess preexisting subject knowledge(S) and a survey was used to assess non-subject (N) factors that might impact the student’s final grade. A posttest was administered after all content was delivered and used to access change in S. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Teaching Tuberculosis Content: Web-Based Resources for Nurse Educators

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health concern with one-third of the world’s population infected. With the goal of eliminating TB, a component of appropriate management of the disease is ensuring baccalaureate nursing students receive current and consistent TB education. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Narrated PowerPoints and Audio Podcasts in Clinical Teaching: One Clerkship's Experience

Introduction: Clinical medical education is increasingly utilizing novel technological approaches in order to supplement traditional lecture-based didactics. The Neurology Core Clerkship at Baylor College of Medicine is a four week required course taken by clinical medical students. Given the large amount of information to be disseminated in a short period of time, part of the didactic material has been provided online in the form of narrated PowerPoint files or lecture audio tracks along with stand-alone PowerPoint files. The narrated files are generated using the native PowerPoint narration function while the stand-alone audio files are created as MP3 format files using an inexpensive digital recording device. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Object-Based Customization of Learning Content: Potentials and Pitfalls

Specification consortia and standardization bodies concentrate on e-Learning objects to en-sure reusability of content. Learning objects may be collected in a library and used for deriv-ing course offerings that are customized to the needs of different learning communities. How-ever, customization of courses is possible only if the logical dependencies between the learn-ing objects are known. Metadata for describing object relationships have been proposed in several e-Learning specifications. This paper discusses the customization potential of e-Learning objects but also the pitfalls that exist if content is customized inappropriately.

Applying Problem-Based Project-Organized Learning in a traditional system

Nowadays, PBL is considered a suitable methodology for engineering education. But making the most of this methodology requires some features, such as multidisciplinary, illstructured teamwork and autonomous research that sometimes are not easy to achieve. In fact, traditional university systems, including curricula, teaching methodologies, assessment and regulation, do not help the implementation of these features. Firstly, we look through the main differences found between a traditional system and the Aalborg model, considered a reference point in PBL. Then, this work is aimed at detecting the main obstacles that a standing traditional system presents to PBL implementation. A multifaceted PBL experience, covering three different disciplines, brings us to analyse these difficulties, order them according to its importance and decide which should be the first changes. Finally, we propose a straightforward introduction of generic competences in the curricula aimed at supporting the use of Problem-Based Project-Organized Learning

New ICT Literacies and Holistic Approaches for the Effective Learning of Languages in Tertiary Education

Abstract: This paper summarizes the evolution of different subjects of English for Specific Purposes and English for Academic and Professional Purposes. The aim here is to show a continuum of changes that have not started and nished in one subject alone but affect the whole curriculum. After the discussion section where advantages and drawbacks of the changes introduced are analyzed, we arrive at some conclusions regarding this ve year period of development in the approach to the teaching and learning of the specific or academic English language in the Escuela Universitaria de Ingeniería Técnica de Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Resumen: Este trabajo resume la evolución que han experimentado distintas asignaturas de Inglés para Fines Especí cos e Inglés para Fines Académicos y Profesionales. El objetivo principal es mostrar cómo el esfuerzo por mejorar las asignaturas afecta al currículo como un todo y no sólo a cada una de las asignaturas. Tras el análisis de algunas de las ventajas e inconvenientes de los cambios introducidos, se alcanzan algunas conclusiones sobre la evolución que han sufrido este tipo de asignaturas durante los últimos cinco años en la Escuela Universitaria de Ingeniería Técnica de Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Fusion of probabilistic knowledge-based classification rules and learning automata for automatic recognition of digital images

In this paper, the fusion of probabilistic knowledge-based classification rules and learning automata theory is proposed and as a result we present a set of probabilistic classification rules with self-learning capability. The probabilities of the classification rules change dynamically guided by a supervised reinforcement process aimed at obtaining an optimum classification accuracy. This novel classifier is applied to the automatic recognition of digital images corresponding to visual landmarks for the autonomous navigation of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the authors. The classification accuracy of the proposed classifier and its comparison with well-established pattern recognition methods is finally reported.

Teaching and evaluating mechanical vibrations with Matlab®

The study of the response of mechanical systems to external excitations, even in the simplest cases, involves solving second-order ordinary differential equations or systems thereof. Finding the natural frequencies of a system and understanding the effect of variations of the excitation frequencies on the response of the system are essential when designing mechanisms [1] and structures [2]. However, faced with the mathematical complexity of the problem, students tend to focus on the mathematical resolution rather than on the interpretation of the results. To overcome this difficulty, once the general theoretical problem and its solution through the state space [3] have been presented, Matlab®[4] and Simulink®[5] are used to simulate specific situations. Without them, the discussion of the effect of slight variations in input variables on the outcome of the model becomes burdensome due to the excessive calculation time required. Conversely, with the help of those simulation tools, students can easily reach practical conclusions and their evaluation can be based on their interpretation of results and not on their mathematical skills

University Networking in Developing Countries based on C4D-Learning

In recent years, the establishment of cooperation networks between universities is one of the most important trends in higher education all over the world. Well recognized local and international university networks have been implemented in most educational institutions. It is common to find associations of various prestigious universities collaborating in a high-­‐technology research project including a very specialized teaching as well. This is the most common cooperation networks among higher education institutions in developed countries. An increasingly common type of networking between developed and developing universities is related to cooperation for development. This is the case of many universities in Africa that are needed for external help in order to improve its capabilities. Numerous memorandums of understanding regarding first world institutions that collaborate with universities in developing countries describe contributions of eventual visiting professors, teaching material and courses. But probably there exist another type of more important, but less explored association, such as networking among developing universities. The new goal, in this case, is not only the excellence but also the mutual development.