Linda Weiser Friedman, Ph.D. Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, CUNY
Hershey H. Friedman, Ph.D. School of Business Brooklyn College, CUNY
ABSTRACT
Models of distance education have evolved over decades, just in time to collide with modern pedagogies in which communication, interaction, student engagement, and active learning are of critical importance. The number of college students taking online classes continues to grow. Today, nearly 30% of college students are taking at least one online class. The social media technologies encompass a wide variety of Web-based technologies such as blogs, wikis, online social networking, and virtual worlds. This paper examines the relevant published literature, looking at online learning activities through the prism of the defining characteristics of today’s new communication technologies.
Full Article (PDF)
Category Archives: Publications
New Sloan-C Study: Over 6.7 million Students Learning Online
Most institutions remain undecided about MOOCs
The 2012 Survey of Online Learning conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group reveals the number of students taking at least one online course has now surpassed 6.7 million. Higher education adoption of Massive Open Online Courses remains low, with most institutions still on the sidelines.
“The rate of growth in online enrolments remains extremely robust, even as overall higher education enrolments have shown a decline,” said study co-author Jeff Seaman, Co-Director of the Babson Survey Research Group. “Institutional opinions on MOOCs are mixed,” added co-author I. Elaine Allen. “Some praise them for their ability to learn about online pedagogy and attract new students, but concerns remain about whether they are a sustainable method for offering courses.”
Todd Hitchcock, Senior Vice President of Online Solutions, Pearson Learning Solutions, stated, “Learning is no longer limited to four walls – learning can happen anywhere – and it already is happening everywhere, everyday. The growth of online learning underscores this need for quality, flexible education programs that meet the demands of our 21st-century workforce.”
Frank Mayadas, Senior Advisor to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and founding President of the Sloan Consortium noted “As in past years, the survey demonstrates the continuing robust growth in a wide range of institutions. It underscores the importance of online learning in higher education in the U.S. What a remarkable ten year period the survey has captured.”
Key report findings include:
- Over 6.7 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2011 term, an increase of 570,000 students over the previous year.
- Thirty-two percent of higher education students now take at least one course online.
- Only 2.6 percent of higher education institutions currently have a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), another 9.4 percent report MOOCs are in the planning stages.
- Academic leaders remain unconvinced that MOOCs represent a sustainable method for offering online courses, but do believe they provide an important means for institutions to learn about online pedagogy.
- Seventy-seven percent of academic leaders rate the learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior to those in face-to-face classes.
- The proportion of chief academic officers who believe their faculty accept the value and legitimacy of online education has not increased – it now stands at only 30.2 percent.
- The proportion of chief academic leaders who say online learning is critical to their long-term strategy is at a new high of 69.1 percent.
- The perception of a majority of chief academic officers at all types of institutions is lower retention rates for online courses remain a barrier to the growth of online instruction.
The tenth annual survey, a collaborative effort between the Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board, is the leading barometer of online learning in the United States. Based on responses from over 2,800 academic leaders, the complete survey report, “Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States” is available at
http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/changing_course_2012
mLearn 2012: International Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning 2012 Proceedings
The proceedings from mLearn 2012: Mobile and Contextual Learning Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning 2012: Helsinki, Finland, October 16 -18, 2012, are now available online in full text for free.
Edited by Marcus Specht, Mike Sharples, Jari Multisilta
Table of Contents
- Download Full Proceedings (One PDF File)
Workshop Proceedings are separate below. Links from titles of papers enable single download of separate papers.
Full Papers
- Mobile-Enabled Language Learning Eco-System 1-8
Agnieszka Palalas - Mobile Assisted Language Learning: A Literature Review 9-16
Olga Viberg, Åke Grönlund - Evaluating ThinknLearn: A Mobile Science Inquiry Based Learning Application in Practice 17-24
Sohaib Ahmed, David Parsons - iSpot Mobile A Natural History Participatory Science Application 25-33
Will Woods, Eileen Scanlon - Information Ecologies A Useful Approach for Observing Mobile Learning in the Wild? 34-37
Nicola Beddall-Hill - The CLAS App – A Mobile Solution to Improve Handover Procedures between Hospital Interface and General Practitioner 38-45
Bridget Maher, Hendrik Drachsler, Marco Kalz, Marcus Specht - Global MedAid Evolution of an mlearning App for International Work-based Learners 46-53
Jo Colley, Claire Bradley, Geoff Stead, Jessica Wakelin - Designing Mobile Applications to Support Type 1 Diabetes Education 54-61
Andy Pulman, Jacqui Taylor, Kate Galvin, Mike Masding - Augmented Reality and Mobile Learning: the State of the Art 62-69
Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Anne Adams, Rebecca Ferguson, Mark Gaved, Yishay Mor, Rhodri Thomas - Learning Analytics in Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning Environments 70-77
Naif Aljohani, Hugh C Davis - mLearning Towards Open Formats 78-85
Geoff Stead - Everyday Patterns in Lifelong Learners to Build Personal Learning Ecologies 86-93
Bernardo Tabuenca, Stefaan Ternier, Marcus Specht - A Gender Digital Divide? Women Learning English through ICTs in Bangladesh 94-100
Alexandra Tyers - Low Cost Mobile Phones for Large Scale Teacher Professional Development in Bangladesh 101-108
Christopher Walsh, Robina Shaheen, Tom Power, Claire Hedges, Masuda Khatoon - MobiDics – Cooperative Mobile E-Learning for Teachers 109-116
Andreas Möller, Barbara Beege, Stefan Diewald, Luis Roalter, Matthias Kranz - The Pedagogy of Mobile Learning In Supporting Distance Learners 117-125
Mpine Makoe - Zapp: Learning about the Distant Landscape 126-133
Mike Sharples, Sam Meek, Gary Priestnall - Mobile Learning and Health-Risk Management of Pulsed Microwave Technologies 134-139
Mikko Ahonen, Tarmo Koppel - An Analysis of the Educational Potential of Augmented Reality Games for Learning 140-147
Birgit Schmitz, Marcus Specht, Roland Klemke - The Use of Quick Response Codes in the Classroom 148-155
Jenni Rikala, Marja Kankaanranta - Heutagogial Approaches to mlearning: from Student- generated Content to International Co-production 156-163
Thomas Cochrane, Laurent Antonczak, Daniel Wagner - A Three-level Evaluation Framework For a Systematic Review of Contextual Mobile Learning 164-171
Yu Wei, Hyo-Jeong So - Tablets with Restricted Mobility: Investigating User Acceptance in a South African Mathematics Mobile Learning Project 172-179
Thanel Voigt, Machdel Matthee
Short Papers
- The Use of Mobile Technologies to Overcome Digital Inequities in Prison Education: a Pilot Project 180-185
Helen Farley, Angela Murphy - Mobile SqueeView: Caring for the Elderly with Mobile Learning 186-189
Yong-June Choi, Kiburm Song, Jieun Kim, Hokyoung Ryu - Acceptance, Chances, and Problems of Mobile Learning in Vocational Education in Enterprises 190-196
Marc Beutner, Rasmus Pechuel - Suitability of Mobile Learning to Enhance English Language Learning: A Survey among University of Colombo School of Computing Students 197-202
Fazeena Jamaldeen, Priyantha Hewagamage, Yamaya Ekanayake - Impact of tablet computers and eBooks on Learning Practices of Law Students 203-207
Marco Kalz, Marcus Specht, Michiel van Oosterzee - Multilingual Mobile Learning A case Study of Four South African High Schools 208-211
Mmaki Jantjies, Mike Joy - Smartphones in Vocational Tourism Education: Truly Useful or just another Reason to Find New Excuses 212-215
Miikka Eriksson - Educational Accelerometer Games for Computer Science 216-219
Ville Karavirta, Lasse Hakulinen - Investigating Learner Interactions via Ubiquitous Access 220-223
Inge de Waard - Bridging Digital Divides in the Learning Process: Challenges and Implications of Integrating ICTs 224-227
Janak Adhikari, David Parsons, Anuradha Mathrani - Challenges Facing eTextbook Provision to South African Schools 228-231
Nomusa Dlodlo, Thato Foko - Ambient Learning Displays: Lecture Series and Results from a Participatory Design Study 232-235
Dirk Börner, Marco Kalz, Marcus Specht - Context-aware Multimodal Interfaces Enhancing Ubiquitous Learning 236-239
Mengmeng Li, Hiroaki Ogata, Bin Hou, Noriko Uosaki - Iterative Design and Delivery of High Impact, Multiple Platform, Scenario-based Interactive Mobile Learning Activities in the Health Sciences 240-243
Hartmuth Ernst, John Harrison, David Griffin - Serious Games at the UNHCR with ARLearn, a Toolkit for Mobile and Virtual Reality Applications 244-247
Atish Gonsalves, Stefaan Ternier, Fred de Vries, Marcus Specht - Developing Electronic Classroom Response Apps for a Wide Variety of Mobile Devices: Lessons Learned from the PINGO project 248-251
Michael Sievers, Wolfgang Reinhardt, Dennis Kundisch, Philipp Herrmann - The Magic Door: Smart Interactions between Students and Lecturers using Contactless Technologies 252-255
Avinash Nandwani, Laura Crane, Reuben Edwards, Phil Benachour - Enabling the discovery of Adaptive Learning Resources for Mobile Learner 256-261
Asim Jalal, Nicholas Gibbins, David Millard, Bashir Al-Hasshimi - A Learning Design Studio in Mobile Learning 262-265
Yishay Mor, Orit Mogilevsky - The Use of SMS Quiz System as an Alternative in Teaching and Learning 266-275
Azidah Abu Ziden, Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman - Mobility and Multi-modality an Exploratory Study of Tablet Use in Interaction Design Learning 276-279
Jinyi Wang, Petter Karlström - Towards Mobile Curriculum with Systemic Learning Solutions 280-283
Jarkko Mylläri, Sanna Vahtivuori-Hänninen, Jenni Rikala, Tiina Mäkelä, Marja Kankaanranta, Anna Aarnio, Lasse Lipponen, Pia Niemelä, Tuula Nousiainen, Kristiina Nurmela - Pedagogy, Continuance Theory and Mobile Devices: Findings from a New Zealand case study 284-288
Noeline Wright - Context as Text in Mobile Digital Literacy 289-293
John Traxler - iPad Professional Development Program (iPDP) 294-297
Rebecca Joanne Hogue - Building Mobile Learning Capacity in Higher Education: E-books and iPads 298-301
Martin Smith, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme - Unravelling the Text Book as Embodied Curriculum: An Actor-Network Theory View of an Android-based eBook Implementation in a South African Secondary School 302-307
Jacobus Liebenberg
Showcases
- Thuze: The Interactive Mobile Learning Solution (Industry Showcase) 308-309
Mireille Yanow, Peter Galuardi, Justin Fort - Mobile Access to Scientic Event Information: An Android Tablet Application for Ginkgo 310-317
Wolfgang Reinhardt, Christoph Suntrup, Caius Cioran - Eedu Elements, a Finnish K-6 school in a Mobile Game 318-319
Harri Ketamo - Developing a Mobile Learning Game on the Android Platform 320-321
David Parsons, Krassie Petrova
Posters
- MLE-Moodle in the Museum Education and in the Biology Exam in the Woods 322-323
Mika Setälä - Talking Tools Learning Sloyd with Smartphones 324-325
Kasper Hiltunen, Juha Hartvik, Mia Porko-Hudd, Marlene Johansson - An Activity Theory Based Approach to Introduce mLearning in Agriculture 326-327
Uvasara Dissanayeke, K. P. Hewagamage, Robert Ramberg, G. N. Wikramanayake
Doctoral Consortium
- Location-based Mobile Learning for Higher Education Students – Developing an Application to Support Critical Thinking 328-331
Abeer Alnuaim - Human-Computer Interaction for Mobility and Learning 332-335
Johan Eliasson - Nurses’ Informal Learning Using Mobile Devices 336-339
Dorothy (Willy) Fahlman - Mobile Learning as a Chance to Enhance Education in Developing Countries – on the Example of Ghana 340-345
Margarete Grimus - QR Cache: Connecting mLearning Practice with Theory 346-349
Robert Power
Preconference Workshops
- Showcasing Operator Led mEducation Innovation and Education/Mobile Industry Collaboration
Jill Attewell, Carol Savill-Smith, Ronda Zelezny-Green, Poonam Kara
Workshop Website - Workshop on Ethical Issues in Mobile Learning
Jocelyn Wishart, Professor John Traxler, Trish Andrews
Workshop Website - Workshop on mLearning Solutions for International Development: Rethinking What’s Possible
Tom Power, Robina Shaheen, Claire Hedges, Christopher Walsh, Clare Woodward
Workshop Website - Workshop on Mobile Augmented Reality for Learning
Víctor Álvarez, Stefaan Ternier
Workshop Website - Workshop on Mobile Learning in Security and Defense Organisations
Christian Glahn
Workshop Website
Via: CEUR-WS.org/Vol-955 – International Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning 2012.
NMC Horizon Report 2013 Higher Ed Edition
The NMC Horizon Report > 2013 Higher Education Edition is a collaborative effort between the NMC and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI), an EDUCAUSE Program, and is slated to be released in February 2013.
The tenth edition will describe annual findings from the NMC Horizon Project, a decade-long research project designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in higher education. Six emerging technologies are identified across three adoption horizons over the next one to five years, as well as key trends and challenges expected to continue over the same period, giving campus leaders and practitioners a valuable guide for strategic technology planning.
The 2013 Horizon Project Higher Education Advisory Board initially voted on the top 12 emerging technologies — the result of which is documented in this a interim report: the NMC Horizon Project Short List > 2013 Higher Education Edition. This Short List then helped the advisory board narrow down the 12 technologies to six for the full publication. Those results are available in the official Preview. View the work that produced these findings at www.horizon.wiki.nmc.org.
Download the Short List PDF
Download the Preview PDF
Book Review: “Essentials of Online Course Design”
The book “Essentials of Online Course Design” from Majorie Vai and Kristen Sosulski is one I have heard about from a few people recently, and one I felt would be worth reading, and at a reasonable £22 from Routledge it’s a fair investment … not to mention the accompanying companion website.
The book is described as a “fresh, thoughtfully designed, step-by-step approach to online course development.” The core of the book is a set of standards that are based on ‘best’ practices (I prefer the term ‘good practice’ as ‘best practice’ implies there is no room for improvement) in the field of online learning and teaching. “Pedagogical, organizational and visual design principles are presented and modeled throughout the book and users will quickly learn from the guide’s hands-on approach. The course design process begins with the elements of a classroom syllabus which, after a series of guided steps, easily evolve into an online course outline” (this last bit was taken from the promotional text).
Read More: Book Review: “Essentials of Online Course Design” – Technology Enhanced Learning Blog.
Buy the Book: Essentials of Online Course Design: A Standards-Based Guide
Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning
Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice (2012) is the latest in a series of annual reports that began in 2004 that examine the status of K-12 online education across the country. The report provides an overview of the latest policies, practices, and trends affecting online learning programs across all 50 states.
Keeping Pace is researched and published as a service to the educational and governmental communities through the generous support of our sponsors. Distribution of the report and graphics for presentations are free.
Free Download: Reports & Graphics « Keeping Pace.
Call for papers on research into blended and online learning
The Canadian Journal of Higher Education is a publication of the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education. It has issued a call for papers for a special issue on: ‘Blended and online higher education: teaching and learning in a wired world.’
Topics
This special issue will ‘present research on education access and quality learning experiences afforded by online education delivery, in addition to research on the use of the Internet for interaction and collaborative engagement previously unattainable to teachers and students.’
Guest editors and submission of articles
Martha Cleveland-Innes, Athabasca University
Heather Kanuka, University of Alberta
Submit before December 31, 2012 to either editor.
Full Text: Call for papers on research into blended and online learning.
Education Week: Evaluating What Works in Blended Learning
Blended learning—the mix of virtual education and face-to-face instruction—is evolving quickly in schools across the country, generating a variety of different models. This special report, the second in an ongoing series on virtual education, examines several of those approaches and aims to identify what is working and where improvements are needed.
Read Evaluating What Works in Blended Learning as a free digital edition—online or on your mobile device.
Full Text: Education Week: Evaluating What Works in Blended Learning.
Book: e-Learning and Social Networking Handbook: Resources for Higher Education
By Frank Rennie & Tara Morrison
Digital resources—from games to blogs to social networking—are strong forces in education today, but how can those tools be effectively utilized by educators and course designers in higher education? Filled with practical advice, the e-Learning and Social Networking Handbook, Second Edition provides a comprehensive overview of online learning tools and offers strategies for using these resources in course design, highlighting some of the most relevant and challenging topics in e-learning today, including:
- using social networking for educational purposes
- designing for a distributed environment
- strengths and weaknesses of delivering content in various formats (text, audio, and video)
- potential constraints on course design
- implementation, evaluation, induction, and training
Illustrated by short, descriptive case studies, the e-Learning and Social Networking Handbook, Second Edition also directs the reader to useful resources that will enhance their course design. This helpful guide will be invaluable to all those involved in the design and delivery of online learning in higher education.
$39.95
Pre Order (Dec 2012) e-Learning and Social Networking Handbook: Resources for Higher Education
Universal instructional design principles for Moodle
The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 11, No 2 (2010)
Tanya Elias, Athabasca University, Canada
Abstract
The paper identifies a set of universal instructional design (UID) principles appropriate to distance education (DE) and tailored to the needs of instructional designers and instructors teaching online. These principles are then used to assess the accessibility level of a sample online course and the availability of options in its LMS platform (Moodle) to increase course accessibility. Numerous accessibility-sensitive plug-in modules are found to be available to Moodle users, though relatively few features were included in the sample course analysed. This may be because they have not been made available to instructors at the institutional level. The paper offers a series of recommendations to improve the accessibility of online DE to learners with diverse abilities, disabilities, and needs.
Full Text: Universal instructional design principles for Moodle | Elias | The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.