Distance Teacher Training during the first COVID Pandemic by the University of Crete | ΕLearningLab

The closing of schools at the beginning of spring 2020, because of the Corona Virus pandemic, featured the need for School Distance Education (SDE). Nevertheless, teachers did not have previous experience in SDE and as a result, they were in need of support in this urgent situation. The Laboratory for Advanced Teaching Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Distance Education (e-Learning Lab) of the University of Crete, attempted to contribute with its own means to the support of teachers who struggled to respond to the challenges of distance teaching resulting from the suspension of schools. Within the above framework, fast track distance seminars were designed and implemented, aiming at the support of teachers on pedagogical issues of Distance Education. During the period from 19 March to 29 April 2020, 20 distance training seminars were conducted, in which more than 40,000 teachers of primary and secondary education from around Greece participated. The overall presentation and assessment of the training actions showed not only the enormous interest of the teaching community but also the need for such training actions with particular emphasis on the principles and the methodology of SDE, on synchronous and asynchronous learning environment as well as the designing or planning of teaching scenarios based on the pedagogical approaches compatible with Distance Learning.

Test the Effect of Perceived Satisfaction, Motivation and Anxiety on Second Life Environment in Distance Learning Model: Structural Equation Modeling

The main purpose of the present study is to predict the relationship between motivation , anxiety, perceived satisfaction and Second Life within asynchronous learning environment specifically in EFL course. Data of the present study were collected from undergraduate students - Sudan University of Technology and Science (SUST) in Sudan. The Questionnaire was conducted manually. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) Version 16 and SPSS Version 11.5 were used. A hypothesized model was tested for model fit in the present study. The convergent validity and discriminant validity were conducted. The exogenous variables showed that Motivation was positively and significantly related to anxiety statistically level was 0.29 and Motivation was positively and significantly related to second life statistically level was 0.32 , anxiety positively and significantly related to Second Life statistically level was 0,25 whereas, perceived satisfaction was excluded in this study because did not satisfy statistical requirement. Therefore, the study was conducted in asynchronous learning environment, particularly in EFL course which is offered to undergraduate students at Deanship of Distance Education - Sudan University of Technology and Science (SUST) - Sudan.

Miscellany of Students’ Satisfaction in an Asynchronous Learning Environment

This study investigates the determinants of students’ satisfaction in an asynchronous learning environment using seven key considerations: the e-learning environment, student–content interaction, student and student interaction, student–teacher interaction, group cohesion and timely participation, knowledge of Internet usage, and satisfaction. The empirical data were gathered through structured questionnaires from 500 students who took courses in an asynchronous learning environment and the analysis was done using structural equation modeling. Framed along the positivist paradigm, deductive epistemology, exploratory research design, the study showed that all the seven variables served as robust antecedents of students’ satisfaction in an asynchronous learning environment.

The Relationship between Social Presence and Critical Thinking: Results from Learner Discourse in an Asynchronous Learning Environment

Understanding the relationship between social presence and critical thinking is useful for gaining insight into the interaction and discourse of learners online. Further study of how these two presences interact is important because research has shown a wide variety of relationships, both positive and negative, between social presence and critical thinking. The aim of this study is to investigate social presence and critical thinking using discourse analysis in the hope that it will deepen and broaden our understanding of the relationship between these important facets of learner discourse. Using quantitative analysis, an online forum used by students at a national university in Korea (n=219) was analyzed by taking 900 forum posts to determine the levels of social presence and critical thinking in each post. The relationships between social presence and critical thinking were analyzed and the results show that social presence and critical thinking have a negative correlation. This highlights the need for awareness of learner discourse, as an increase in social presence may lead to a decrease in critical thinking and vice versa. The likely cause of this is that learners tend not to change the discourse once the discourse within a particular context has been set.

An Agent-Based Framework for Personalized Learning in Continuous Professional Development

In order to stay competent and update in the fast changing landscape of technological advances, professionals nowadays are expected to continuously upgrade themselves of professional knowledge and expertise in their respective fields. Many professional organizations stipulate that their members should take part in a minimum number of hours or training units of continuous professional development (CPD) activities in order to stay qualified for their membership. The requirements of CPD for modern day professionals who are very much mobile and work within tight schedules point to the need of an asynchronous learning environment that provides a learner-centered approach and offers learners greater flexibility and choices. In this chapter we argue that “personalization learning” (PL) that exploits the abundance of information and e-learning materials on the Web can be harnessed effectively to serve the diversity of CPD training needs. Moreover, we specialize in the concept of PL to Personalized CPD Learning and highlight the emerging technologies that are relevant to the development of personalized learning for CPD. We further proposed an agent-based architectural and conceptual framework for a personalized CPD learning portal (Personalized-CPD) which integrates these technologies to provide supportive functions for professionals to conduct CPD activities in a personalized manner.

Challenges in Delivering Case-Based Teaching in the Online Asynchronous Learning Environment

Case method teaching is prominent in its efficacy at improving the cognitive learning process in faceto- face classes. However, the efficacy of conducting this teaching method in an online asynchronous environment, where learners and instructor do not have real-time interactions, could be problematic. This study assesses and compares the efficacy of case method teaching in face-to-face and online asynchronous learning (OAL) environments. We proposed four hypotheses on the correlation between these two delivery modes of case method teaching and the learning performance of students. This study reports additional findings on the usage behavior of students in an online asynchronous environment. These findings are a useful aggregated surrogate to measure the effect of case teaching method in the online asynchronous environment. The overall findings of this study indicate that an online asynchronous environment can promote students’ participation in certain cases. As most antagonists for the adoption of online asynchronous case method surmised, cognitive learning gains via this learning method do not seem to be as high as in the face-to-face environment. The findings provide ample room for a further exploration of creative online asynchronous methods to continuously improve cognitive gains of learners.