Distance-Educator.com e-Newsletter - 8/13/12

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RESEARCH-BASED ARTICLES OF THE WEEK Learning Design Implementation for Distance e-Learning: Blending Rapid e-Learning Techniques with Activity-based Pedagogies to Design and Implement a Socio-constructivist Environment Abstract This paper discusses how modern technologies are changing the teacher-student-content relationships from the conception to the delivery of so-called ‘distance’ education courses. The concept of Distance Education has greatly evolved in the digital era of 21st Century. With the widespread use and access to the Internet, exponential growth has been experienced in the field of multimedia and web technologies. These developments have greatly reduced the significance of the term ‘distance’ in Distance Education. Consequently, the term distance stands as a paradox in the globalised networked environments. As a result with new communication and collaboration tools, and possibilities to disseminate high quality audio, video and interactive materials over the information superhighway, the educational design process of distance education materials has new perspectives to explore in order to improve and even re-engineer the overall ‘distance’ teaching and learning concept. This paper looks at how the educational design process changes with technology and provides a few examples of how modern tools and techniques are being used and implemented to design high quality (socio)-constructivist learning environments. It proposes an integrated model for learning design supported by implemented case-studies in the context of learning transformation processes that are ongoing at the University of Mauritius. The aim is to demonstrate how the blending of innovative technologies and pedagogies can result in high quality constructive learning experiences that eliminate the ‘distance’ paradox in so-called distance learning environments. The European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning Interlinking e-Learning Resources and the Web of Data for Improving Student Experience Abstract The Web provides not only several data sources with useful and relevant information with e-Learning purposes, but also information that is not easy to retrieve. The web of linked data is a repository based on semantic technologies. Several researchers have been oriented to this kind of interoperable e-Learning repositories and establish that the Linked Data approach has the potential to fulfill the e-Learning vision of Web-scale interoperability of e-Learning resources as well as highly personalized and adaptive e-Learning applications. The paper presents an automatic concept extraction system used to improve personalized searching framework. It could be considered as one possible instance of a more general concept concerning the transition from the Document Web to the Document/Data Web and the consequent managing of these immense volumes of data. Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society Overcoming the glassy-eyed nod: An application of process-oriented guided inquiry learning techniques in information technology Abstract Two significant problems faced by universities are to ensure sustainability and to produce quality graduates. Four aspects of these problems are to improve engagement, to foster interaction, develop required skills and to effectively gauge the level of attention and comprehension within lectures and large tutorials. Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) is a technique used to teach in large lectures and tutorials. It invokes interaction, team building, learning and interest through highly structured group work. This paper describes a new approach to teaching Information Technology (IT) using POGIL. Two IT subjects were chosen for the implementation of the POGIL technique to explore its potential to resolve the aforementioned issues. Preliminary evidence from perspectives of the institution, students and lecturer suggest that POGIL is better able to maximise engagement, foster interaction and effectively gauge the level of attention and comprehension in teaching process-oriented IT concepts than a traditional didactic approach. Journal of Learning Design IN THE NEWS CHEA President Judith Eaton Interviewed on Degree Mills on Fox News Washington WASHINGTON - They are colleges in name only, diploma mills, where a degree can be bought and paid for with very little work. These bogus universities lack recognition from any legitimate agency. A FOX 5 investigation discovered some professors at the University of the District of Columbia who claim to have Ph.D.s, got them from a school that fits the government definition of a diploma mill. Fox DC, 5 End of the Beginning Senator Harkin’s two-year investigation of for-profit higher education ends, but the policy battle is far from over. What comes next? Inside Higher Education Why More Teachers Are Getting Advanced Degrees From Online Schools A decade ago, the University of Phoenix awarded 72 online education degrees. In ten years, that number skyrocketed to 5,976. Western Governors University didn’t award any education degrees in 2001. StateImpact (Indiana) The Online Pecking Order ‘Conventional’ online universities consider strategic response to MOOCs ‘Conventional’ online universities consider strategic response to MOOCs Inside Higher Ed New ISTE CEO: It’s time to partner up Strong leadership to guide policy, and a voice to speak for education stakeholders nationwide, are essential to discussions about school reform, according to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)—and this fall, ISTE will turn to a new leader for these in Brian Lewis. eSchool News Technology Has Its Place: Behind a Caring Teacher “What is wrong with higher education? How will technology transform it? What new direction will it take in these difficult times?” I often hear such questions, from both inside and outside the academy. Such questions deserve answers, of course, but they raise another question, one seldom asked: What is college for? This, too, deserves attention, for if we do not agree on the destination of the enterprise, we are probably not going to agree on the route or the proper mode of transportation. Change is afoot and inevitable. The point is whether it will be made wisely, and with a clear goal. The Chronicle of Higher Education Colleges Try to Give Career Advice by Virtual Inkblot Test A new company is updating the idea of using an inkblot test to help college students choose a career. Wired Campus Farhad (Fred) Saba, Ph. D. Founder and Editor Distance-Educator.com

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