Volume 7, Issue 2, April 2016

ABSTRACT

Animation is one of the useful contemporary educational technologies in teaching complex subjects. There is a growing interest in proper use of learner-technology interaction to promote learning quality for different groups of learner needs. The purpose of this study is to investigate if an interaction approach supports weak learners, who have poor domain knowledge and comprehension difficulty of the learning subject, in complex animation learning. Three interaction approaches were designed and evaluated in an educational animation program teaching a complex subject of data structures. Participants were 70 undergraduate students performed poorly in the experimental course of introductory data structures. They were randomly assigned into one of the three interaction approaches: pure-reason-dialogue, predict-oriented, and reason-predict-combination interactions. Learning effects of these interaction approaches were measured by near-transfer and far-transfer tests as well as learning process surveys including perceived content difficulty, mental effort expenditure, and usefulness of the interaction approach. Findings indicate that the reason-predict-combination interactions approach led to the greatest transfer performance and was rated by students as the most useful interaction approach for understanding the animation content. The findings generally recommend that for weak learners, interactions of reasoning dialogue is effective to develop near-transfer ability at the initial learning phase, whereas when learners’ knowledge grows to be capable of near-transfer task, the predict-oriented interactions become more helpful to gain far-transfer knowledge. Implications for design principles for interactive instructional animations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Keywords: Human-computer interaction, Instructional animation, Weak learner, Data structures

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to add to the collective body of research regarding the use of digital books (or eTexts) and their preference by students in higher education. Although there have been many studies in this area, the findings are not necessarily consistent. One reason for this inconsistency is the rapid evolution of e-reading capabilities through recent advances in tablet computing. No empirical studies currently exist to describe the impact of multi-touch interactive eTexts, which are only accessible on these latest tablet computers. The purpose of this study was to determine how graduate pre-service teacher education students perceive the interactivity, engagement, and value of customized course eTexts. Participants in this quasi-experimental study rated the level of interactivity, engagement, and value of three eText formats: page fidelity (Adobe PDF), reflowable text (Kindle ePub), and multi-touch (Apple iBooks). Users of the multi-touch eText reported a significantly more interactive and engaging experience with their text than the other eText users. The experiment also revealed that students overwhelmingly prefer a free, customized open-access text for use in their course, no matter what eText format is used.

Keywords: e-book, Multi-touch, Digital textbook, eText, Tablet computers

ABSTRACT

Understanding and trouble-shooting microscopic processes involved in laboratory tests are often challenging for students in science education because of the inability to visualize the different steps and the various errors that may influence test outcome. The effectiveness of gamification or the use of game design elements and game-mechanics were explored in a year-long research project which saw the development of a web based learning tool that visualized Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) in a digital laboratory. A cohort of 30 students from the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science trialed the first prototype and provided feedback in a survey on their learning experience and the extent to which the learning tool enhanced their learning. This article provides additional insights into likely future trends of substituting traditional learning modes such as lecture and practical laboratory classes with gamified content.

Keywords: Gamification, Game-based learning, Higher education, Science education

ABSTRACT

Within the scope of this study, which deals with distance education method as a communication process, a focus group interview was conducted with voluntary students who were randomly selected from various areas/majors at the Department of Distance Education in Istanbul University in order to determine the relationship between their general Internet usage habits and their Internet usage as a part of distance learning and in line with their expectations. The questions posed for the students during the interview process were drawn up on the basis of Internet medium serving a mass medium and for multi-purposes. The study revealed a positive relationship between general Internet usage habits of distance education students and their particular Internet usage habits during their education. It is concluded that the ability of students to adapt to social media applications and especially to social networks, which are the latest Internet applications based on interactive communications, is considerably high. The expectations of the students from the latest Internet applications are also high when it comes to distance education process.

Keywords: Distance Education, Internet usage habits, Information and communication technologies in education, Communication

ABSTRACT

This article provides a literature review of the research concerning the role of faculty perspectives about instructional technology. Learning management systems, massive open online courses (MOOCs), cloud-based multimedia applications, and mobile apps represent the tools and the language of academia in the 21st century. Research examined illustrates how important understanding user attitudes can be in the technology deliberation process. Consequently, the faculty opinions should not be underestimated in technology acceptance discussions as coupled with ongoing education technological developments is the challenge of innovation adoption.

Keywords: e-tools, Distance Education, Faculty-perceived usefulness, Voice-authoring tools, Instructional technology

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