http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ A search of MERLOT materials Copyright 1997-2013 MERLOT. All rights reserved. Tue, 21 May 2013 02:41:40 PDT Tue, 21 May 2013 02:41:40 PDT http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/images/merlot.gif http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ 44 34 http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=761563 SkyView is a virtual view of objects in space. Point your device (iPad or iPhone) towards the sky, daytime or nighttime, and the app will show the stars, planets, moon, and manmade objects in space. Additional encyclopedic information is given for each item you view. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=761517 Abstract: Throughout the past decade, web-based teaching and learning have experienced tremendous growth. Yet, research aimed at evaluating determinants of student learning outcomes in online courses is lagging behind. The majority of studies of online student participation have focused on the use of discussion board or other common communication areas. Little attention has been paid to the role time spent online plays in affecting academic performance of college students. The objective of this study was to estimate the relative importance of time spent online, prior grades, and demographic characteristics of students in terms of their academic performance in online sociology courses. Using a multinomial logistic model, the current study examined the odds of attaining one grade versus another depending on the amount of effort and controlling for gender, major, and year in school. Results suggest that among the effects examined in the study, time spent online and previous achievement matter the most.Keywords: study time, online learning, student achievement, sociology, multinomial logistic regression http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=761509 AbstractAt institutions of higher learning, there is an increased demand and need for online courses. However, the number of faculty developing and teaching these courses does not match the growth in online education. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived barriers to online teaching experienced by various faculty groups at a public institution located in the southeastern United States using a new survey instrument, which was developed from recent research findings. This study sought to identify the most prevalent barriers to online instruction for the faculty group surveyed. In addition, these findings may identify prevalent barriers for faculty groups in an effort to inform administrative decisions concerning policy, training, and compensation as well as to facilitate involvement for specific types of online instruction for faculty development. A number of novel and important differences were found in the perceived barriers that exist between faculty groups on four constructs identified through an exploratory factor analysis. The factors found were: (1) interpersonal barriers; (2) institutional barriers; (3) training and technology barriers; and (4) cost/benefit analysis barriers. The results of this study may be of use to other institutions as they develop online instruction training programs.Keywords: online education, instructional technology, perceived barriers, survey research, online faculty http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=760461 Featured on these pages are images of both native and migratory Oklahoma birds. These bird photos are intended to aid in bird, dragonfly, and dragonfly identification. This site also has information on birding hotspots in Oklahoma and feeding birds in your backyard. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=760451 Breve manual de uso de la plataforma MOODLE en su version 2.2 para las herramientas de WIKI y Grupos.El documento forma parte de una estrategia de difusión de la plataforma académica de la Universidad Tecnológica de Chile INACAP y forma parte de los cursos de perfeccionamiento docente. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=760201 This book, initiated by the UNESCO/COL Chair in OER, is one in a series of publications by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) examining OER. It describes the movement in detail, providing readers with insight into OER’s significant benefits, its theory and practice, and its achievements and challenges. The 16 chapters, written by some of the leading international experts on the subject, are organised into four parts by theme:OER in Academia – describes how OER are widening the international community of scholars, following MIT’s lead in sharing its resources and looking to the model set by the OpenCourseWare ConsortiumOER in Practice – presents case studies and descriptions of OER initiatives underway on three continentsDiffusion of OER – discusses various approaches to releasing and “opening” content, from building communities of users that support lifelong learning to harnessing new mobile technologies that enhance OER access on the InternetProducing, Sharing and Using OER – examines the pedagogical, organisational, personal and technical issues that producing organisations and institutions need to address in designing, sharing and using OER http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=760240 Higher education has experienced phenomenal growth in all parts of Asia over the last two decades — from the Korean peninsula in the east to the western borders of Central Asia. This expansion, coupled with a diversity of delivery and technology options, has meant that more and more young Asians are experiencing tertiary education within their own countries. In South, South East and Far East Asia especially, universities, polytechnics, colleges and training institutes with a variety of forms, structures, academic programmes and funding provisions have been on an almost linear upward progression.Notwithstanding this massive expansion, equitable access is still a challenge for Asian countries. There is also concern that expansion will erode quality. The use of digital resources is seen as one way of addressing the dual challenges of quality and equity. Open educational resources (OER), free of licensing encumbrances, hold the promise of equitable access to knowledge and learning. However, the full potential of OER is only realisable with greater knowledge about OER, skills to effectively use them and policy provisions to support their establishment in Asian higher education.This book, the result of an OER Asia research project hosted and implemented by the Wawasan Open University in Malaysia, with support from Canada’s International Development Research Centre, brings together ten country reports and ten case studies on OER in the Asian region that highlight typical situations in each context. China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam all receive extensive treatment, as do the multi-regional initiatives of the Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics.While interest in and the production, distribution and use of OER are still very much in the early stages of development in most parts of Asia, OER’s potential value to improve the quality of curriculum, content and instruction, facilitate academic collaboration and enhance equitable access to knowledge resources cannot be overstated. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=759749 Explore the life cycles of a variety of species groups, from plants and mammals to amphibians and reptiles, and investigate their similarities and differences. After learning more about the incredible life cycle of the green turtle, students play a turtle life cycle board game to see if they can survive from an egg to an adult turtle. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=759785 Get crafty this Easter with our hands-on Endangered Animal Easter Egg activity. Using ARKive’s vast treasury of images and videos, students research their favourite endangered species and identify key features and characteristics, then decorate an egg using the images as inspiration. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=759458 It is a collection of all of the works done by Charles Darwin.