Abstract: This paper discusses the role of blended learning in teacher education on a Master’s programme at Manchester University. Blended learning is the bringing together of traditional physical classes with elements of virtual education. The paper focuses on one particular module of the degree and attempts to capture students’ experiences of using a number of online tools. As our students are primarily in-service teachers, this experience is particularly relevant and equips them to make use of educational technology in the language classroom. Some comparisons are also made with a cohort of teachers studying the programme at a distance. The paper explores a range of issues that currently feature in the adult education literature, namely, deep and surface learning, communities of practice, and the importance of educational dialogue. The paper illustrates how important the blended nature of this module is for the teachers to get a balanced programme that upgrades skills and knowledge, but which also enables them to reflect on past and future practice. A transformative education scale is used to show that teachers can be transformed. The paper is a case study that makes use of data that explore the student perspective on a series of research questions.

Abstract: Globalisation has changed the way most people live, work and study in the 21st century. Teachers and teacher educators, like other professionals, must embrace these changes to be effective in their jobs and one ongoing change is the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for lifelong learning. In this paper we describe how one group of academics in a university programme preparing new teachers has embraced change to introduce innovative programmes using ICTs and heutagogy rather than pedagogy. Heutagogy prepares students for the self-determined lifelong learning which is essential for survival in a 21st century world.

Abstract: Trust and collective learning are useful features that are enabled by effective collaborative leadership of e-learning projects across higher and further education (HE/FE) institutions promoting lifelong learning. These features contribute effectively to the development of design for learning in communities of e-learning practice. For this, reflexivity, good leadership and the capacity to engage in innovation is crucial to team performance. This paper outlines a serendipitously useful combination of innovative models of collaboration emerging from two 2005–06 UK e-learning pilots: the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) e-Learning Independent Study Award (eLISA) and JISC infoNet Collaborative Approaches to the Management of e-Learning (CAMEL) projects. The JISC-funded eLISA Distributed e-Learning (DeL) project set up a collaborative partnership among teachers to try out LAMS and Moodle using study skills in e-learning. Simultaneously, the JISC infoNet CAMEL project developed a model of collaborative approaches to e-learning leadership and management across four UK HE/FE institutions. This paper proposes two new theoretical collaborative team leadership and operational models for e-learning projects, including indices of trust, reflexivity and shared procedural knowledge, recommending that these models are further developed in future communities of e-learning practice in institutions promoting lifelong learning.

Abstract: This paper considers the challenges faced by those seeking to design effective blended learning. Using a 2-year case study involving cohorts of approximately 200 students, it demonstrates how Anthony Giddens' structuration theory can provide a metaframework for assisting educational designers in creating coherent blended learning experiences that reinforce intended learning outcomes. It calls for educational designers to be sensitive to both their audience and the unintended and unanticipated consequences of their actions and shows how a holistic annual review framework can reinforce or suppress emergent behaviour through unit development.

Abstract: Digital games have typically been considered a male leisure activity; however, recent statistics indicate that increasing numbers of females are now playing games. The purpose of this review is to investigate how the influx of girl gamers and the emergence of female-oriented game design can inform instructional design for the construction of interactive learning environments. This review presents an overview of digital games and gender, an outline of girl games and ‘pink’ software, a discussion of the controversy of girl games, and a review and discussion of the research and implications of female-oriented game design for instructional design. The goal of this review is to examine the influx of girl gamers into a male pastime and to analyse the implications of this for the design of interactive learning environments.

Abstract: This study takes a relatively new direction in researching virtual learning communities (VLCs) as it explores the ways in which VLC membership can support lifelong learning and impact on individual learning careers and professional identities beyond the life of the community. The case study spans 4 years. The findings suggest that through the process of engaging in a VLC, individuals may change their ‘horizons of action’ leading to new learning and career trajectories. In particular, the study demonstrates how membership of a VLC supported and enabled some individuals to transform their learning careers and to make significant life changes. Other members developed their learning careers in an incremental manner that led to increased innovation and professional expertise. The findings suggest that VLCs are successful in supporting individual change and career development when they provide the ‘comfort zone’ of a secure and supportive virtual environment.

Abstract: Recent developments of e-learning specifications such as Learning Object Metadata (LOM), Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), Learning Design and other pedagogy research in semantic e-learning have shown a trend of applying innovative computational techniques, especially Semantic Web technologies, to promote existing content-focused learning services to semantic-aware and personalised learning services. To facilitate this transforming process, this paper presents a novel context-aware semantic e-learning approach to integrate content provision, learning process and learner personality in an integrated semantic e-learning framework. As the basis of the computational framework, a scalable and extensible generic context model is proposed to structure the semantics of contextual relations and concepts in various contexts, such as learning content description, learning model, knowledge object representation and learner personality. Corresponding technical and pedagogical developments of this framework also consider compatibility issues with existing technologies (eg, XML/Resource Description Framework) and specifications (eg, IEEE LOM) in order to achieve the best interoperability.

Abstract: This qualitative study focuses on newly qualified teachers’ use of information and communication technology (ICT) as a tool for meeting the challenges of their everyday work. The overarching aim is to investigate whether they can contribute to new knowledge about learning in ICT contexts. Theoretical points of departure concern the changeable nature of learning in situations where ways of communicating knowledge and skills are changed. The study draws upon interviews and observations. The findings show intersections picturing the new technique as partly changing the circumstances for teaching, learning and collaboration between colleagues. The new teachers’ utterances show that ICT utilisation is extensive and exhibits great variation both among female and among male participants. Boundary-crossing changes become visible in the collaboration between more experienced teachers and those who are newly qualified, especially when they work on a common development project. However, there are relatively few teachers who bring up active ICT use in connection with pupils’ learning. Changed roles because of ICT competence raise questions about the importance of systematic ICT features within teacher education. Many of the newly qualified teachers wish they had more knowledge about ICT and related techniques. Another question is whether newly qualified teachers who show interest in using the technique can take on the role as agents of change in their active and creative use of ICT.

Abstract: The Internet has recently been identified as a potential enabler of lifelong learning. Web-based learning systems enable learners easily to access rich resources and actively participate in learning activities without time and distance limits. The main challenge in lifelong learning is providing the opportunity for discussion and collaborative knowledge construction to engage learners in acquiring and applying knowledge in the context of learning, working and collaboration. Moreover, knowledge sharing is a key component in the formation of communities of lifelong learners. Most online collaborative learning communities use Web text-based discussion forums for knowledge sharing. However, such discussion forums are separated from the context of learning activities. Furthermore, the facilitation of beneficial dialogue through discussion forums, requires the involvement of mentors as facilitators. This study proposes an e-book interface that enables learners easily to annotate or enter queries in a text in which questions arise, where a query context is transferred to a discussion forum. The subsequent anchors of questions are linked to a discussion forum for actuating sustained participation. A mentor finder recommends a collaborative peer based on learner knowledge level to answer the questions. Learners can also use mobile phones to access this ubiquitous discussion forum using voice/text anytime and anywhere. The experimental results showed a clear increase in the level of discussions, and most learners indicated that they benefited considerably from collaborative mentor support in an e-book learning context through the provision of a ubiquitous discussion forum.

Abstract: The advent of semantic web and its relevant technologies tools and applications provide a new context for exploitation. In the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) semantic web activity a list of priorities set the major challenges for the realization of the next generation web. The challenge of using semantic web is important for a globally sustainable future. The digital divide between the 'information haves' and the 'information-have-nots' shows no sign of shrinking.

Abstract: Personal teaching efficacy is associated with a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom. To enhance this efficacy in a computer-simulated training program, both personal traits and guided practices need to be considered concurrently. In this study, it was hypothesised that the interactive effects from the coupling of personal traits with guided practices would be a reliable predictor of the degree of improvement in personal teaching efficacy during computer-simulated training. One hundred and seventy-eight preservice teachers completed an interactive teaching experience via the Computer Simulation for Teaching General Critical-thinking Skills in which guided practices were integrated via specially designed teaching sequences and loops. The findings suggest that intrapersonal intelligence, critical-thinking dispositions and a judicial thinking style are related to self-awareness, analytical learning and reflective thinking and that in this study, these personal qualities seemingly interacted with guided practices, which resulted in reflective teaching and mastery experience. This, in turn, may very well have brought about improvement in the preservice teachers’ personal teaching efficacy during the computer-simulated teaching.

Abstract: This study explores the private theories of four vocational education teachers in Singapore who have engaged in the design of technology-based learning for their own classes. The understanding of teachers' private theories is important in the context of contemporary educational reforms, which emphasise the shift towards student-centred practices and technology integration. As teachers learn to change strategies and utilise technology, they might also need to transform aspects of their private theories that could impede effective technology integration and lead them to continue with outdated educational practice. This study aims to understand and explicate areas of private theories that impede the effective design of student-centred technology-based learning. The final outcome of the study was a set of propositions for readers to examine for the possible application in their own environments.

Abstract: Tutors have only limited time to support the learning process. In this paper, we introduced a model that helps answer the questions of students. The model invoked the knowledge and skills of fellow students, who jointly formed an ad hoc, transient community. The paper situated the model within the context of a Learning Network, a self-organised, distributed system, designed to facilitate lifelong learning in a particular knowledge domain. We discussed the design of the model and explained how we selected and supported capable peers. Finally, we examined the calibration of the model and a simulation, which was intended to verify if the model is fit for use in experiments with students. The results indicate that, indeed, it is possible to identify and support capable peers efficiently and effectively.

Abstract: Research on asynchronous learning networks (ALNs) has indicated that there are problems with both the quantity and quality of online interactions that can undermine the aim of inquiry. The goal of this paper is to offer a new way of thinking about these problems in the context of knowledge building, a specific form of collaborative inquiry supported by an ALN. Drawing from interviews with teachers following two teacher education courses that introduced teachers to knowledge building, it is argued that we need to rethink the role and purpose of online work in ALNs-as building a communal learning resource. A framework for doing this is proposed in terms of three notions: collaboration, learning how to learn and idea improvement. The framework is expected to contribute to the literature on knowledge building by providing a new way to distinguish knowledge building from other forms of collaborative inquiry.

Abstract: The professoriate is increasingly expected to infuse computer technology in teaching. However, there is dearth of qualitative data to either support or disprove this belief. This study thus aims to describe the experiences of a select group of college teachers as they develop, implement and evaluate their courseware materials. Ten tenured faculty members who have developed, deployed and evaluated their courseware materials were the participants of this qualitative inquiry. Initially, the teachers were made to fill out robotfotos (in Dutch, a cartographic sketch) for purposes of profiling their baseline characteristics. Data gathered were carefully analysed and thematised on the basis of internal and external homogeneity. Guided by a semistructured audio-taped interview, this study captured the experiences of the teachers whose instructional paradigms were facilitated and revolutionised by a learning management system (LMS), specifically the Blackboard (Bb) system. Findings show that generally, the professoriate considers the courseware materials developed as instructional adjuncts that complement their time-tested teaching modalities. Having identified an LMS such as Bb as a user-friendly system, issues relative to system’s accessibility, technical difficulties, systemic training programmes for teachers, attractive system of incentives and user readiness are key areas that ensure overall programme success and viability.

Abstract: This study examined attitudes of university faculty specialising in the field of human resource (HR) in Taiwan towards participation in the teaching of online courses using the theory of reasoned action (TRA). The population targeted for investigation consisted of the full-time university faculty in the HR field in Taiwan regardless of their experience in the teaching online courses of any kind. Survey development included a detailed literature review to identify beliefs that guided measurement construction and followed the guidelines recommended by Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) to ensure construct validity. Data were collected on TRA constructs and demographic variables using the questionnaire mailed to 278 faculty members targeted for the study. A 42% (n = 116) response rate was achieved after one round of the follow-up through emailing. The significant predictor variables, attitude and subjective social norm were confirmed. In other words, results of analyses evidenced the contribution of TRA to explaining the underlying beliefs that enhance or thwart participation. Additionally, faculty in this study possessed positive attitudes towards the participation in online teaching, and further analyses supported the use of TRA in this research context.

Abstract: With the proliferation of computers in test delivery today, adaptive testing has become quite popular, especially when examinees must be classified into two categories (pass/fail, master/nonmaster). Several well-established organisations have provided standards and guidelines for the design and evaluation of educational and psychological testing. The purpose of this paper was not to repeat the guidelines and standards that exist in the literature but to identify and discuss the main evaluation parameters for a computer-adaptive test (CAT). A number of parameters should be taken into account when evaluating CAT. Key parameters include utility, validity, reliability, satisfaction, usability, reporting, administration, security, and thoseassociated with adaptivity, item pool, and psychometric theory. These parameters are presented and discussed below and form a proposed evaluation model, Evaluation Model of Computer-Adaptive Testing.

Abstract: This study investigates how distributed team members evaluate their own and others’ knowledge when they engage in goal-directed activities and seek shared understanding. Twenty-three manager-level employees of a municipal organisation worked as two distributed teams for two months. Their work was supported with a visualisation tool, which was embedded in the teams’ shared www-based workspaces. After the distributed working period, the subjects were interviewed and their work in the shared workspace was traced. Qualitative analysis of the interviews showed that, in distributed collaboration, individuals use both self-evaluation and interpersonal evaluation strategies when trying to gain an awareness of others’ knowledge. The interpersonal evaluations included strategies such as assessing the expertise and knowledge of others. It is concluded that when individuals do not have situational information, eg, what others think about the content of the shared task, they tend to make personal attributions. In other words, their evaluations of the others’ knowledge focus on stable tendencies like the expertise of other individuals.

Abstract: This study describes a technological pilot project providing 160 graduate students with asynchronous access to the ongoing proceedings of a lecture-based course. Exactly half of the students spoke the language of instruction, English, as a second language (ESL). While the asynchronous video-on-demand service proved popular overall, ESL students were markedly heavier users of the system and reported most enthusiastically on its benefits. Asynchronous access was valued as much for empowering the learner with control of the lecture as it was for the issue of convenience. Furthermore, the medium of video capture was found to create an impression of intimacy simultaneously cleansed of environmental distractions, an experience not necessarily consistent with live attendance. These findings became the foundation of a course distribution system now providing lectures to over 1,500 undergraduates each semester, yet many of the observed benefits remain to be confirmed by future research.

Abstract: In this paper we discuss the background to this study in the development of the international MSc e-Learning Multimedia and Consultancy. The aims of the study focus on the conditions for achieving communication, interaction and collaboration in open and flexible e-learning environments. We present our theoretical framework that has informed the design of programme as a whole which is based on a socio-constructivist perspective on learning. Our research is placed within an action research framework and we outline our position within the critical or emancipatory tradition and also our standpoint on the use of ICT in education. We discuss the design of the programme and also our pedagogical approach and describe in detail the particular context for this study. We report on the student experience of being learners on this module, their perceptions of what they have gained most from learning from and with each other and their responses to the various ways in which 'scaffolding' has been designed and implemented by the tutors. Finally we offer some reflections on the conditions for achieving well-orchestrated interdependence in open and flexible e-learning environments.

Abstract: When the subject of scientific analysis is learning, the research needs to be anchored in various nonmonolithic pillars. Several disciplines require a common ground of convergence. An objective observer of the domain can easily conclude that semantic e-learning brings together the three different worlds of learners, pedagogues and technologists. In this short concluding paper of the special issue, we criticise the monolithic approaches to technology-enhanced learning. We argue that semantic e-learning presents a critical research challenge to move towards extended openness, meaning exploitation and unforeseen learning opportunities for the global community. The concluding remark is a call for a new learning generation primer. Synthesizing fantasies is in fact an invitation to semantically define our commitment to collaborate and to agree on the technology-enabled services that bring learning to the forefront. The promotion of the knowledge-and-learning-society requires an integration of the demand and supply side of knowledge and learning.

Abstract: This paper focuses on research into the student experience as participants in the development of an international online community. The background context for this is an international master’s programme and the specific context for the research is a module on Digital Media Applications (DMA), which are outlined. The programme design emphasises peer and formative assessment practices and the pedagogical approach aims to foster group collaboration in international teams. Following an overview of the research methods adopted, a number of emergent themes from the data analysis of student diaries are discussed, including issues of language, culture and identity. In conclusion, we offer some reflections on these issues and discuss the underpinning assumptions (in relation to assessment practices in particular) that have given direction to our subsequent ongoing research and development.

Abstract: Given the rapidly changing skills needs of ‘post-industrial economies’, lifelong learning forms an integral part of government policy within the UK and abroad. However, like the UK, most economies are faced with the problem of how to reach those sections of the community that have traditionally not embraced learning and educational opportunities. In this paper, the development and evaluation of a system designed to address this problem is described. The Lifelong Learning in London for All (L4All) project has investigated the concept of ‘trails’ as a way of organising lifelong learning opportunities. The L4All pilot system combines a set of web services to provide the functionality needed to support this central idea. The development process was outlined, and the findings of an empirical study were used to confirm proof of concept.

Abstract: Spelling and grammar checkers help to make surface errors more apparent; do they influence the way in which people revise the content of their writing? We investigated whether the presence of checkers distracts students from making content revisions. Twenty-five freshmen, 20 English majors and 20 graduate students revised two essays on a computer, one with the spelling and grammar checkers, and the other with a dictionary. These essays were unfamiliar to the students and rigged with content and surface errors. The checkers helped the participants to revise text for surface features but did not affect the students’ other revisions. Our findings suggest that checkers are helpful yet do not inhibit students’ ability to make content revisions.

Abstract: Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 37 No 2 2006 299–302 doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2005.00480.x Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Oxford, UKBJETBritish Journal of Educational Technology0007-1013British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 2005January 2005372299302Articles ColloquiumBritish

Abstract: This study engages the question of where successful emerging (pretenure) scholars are most likely to publish their research. Spurred on by findings of a survey of leaders in the field of educational technology/instructional design and technology (ET/IDT) to determine the advisability of a rank-ordered list of journals for the purposes of decision making about tenure and promotion, this document analysis presents the results of measuring the conventional wisdom against the actual practices of emerging scholars. Findings suggest that pretenure scholars publish in a wide variety of outlets including some, but not all of those identified in earlier surveys. While it is understood that the tenure decision is a complicated one—based on many criteria (eg, teaching, service, grantsmanship, etc), research and scholarship remain primary determinants. Therefore, these findings will be useful to emerging scholars and to those decision makers seeking direction regarding research outlets. The study is limited by a focus from an original survey conducted in 2003 to primarily North American scholars as participants, however, international considerations are included. The findings indicate that a list of journals for tenure decision making may not be advisable at this point in the development of the field of ET/IDT.