http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ A search of MERLOT materials Copyright 1997-2013 MERLOT. All rights reserved. Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:04:43 PDT Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:04:43 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=433985 The Center for Teaching Excellence authored this white paper, Building from Content to Community: [Re]Thinking the Transition to Online Teaching and Learning, to serve as a resource for faculty who are teaching online or are considering making a transition. We hope this paper serves as the starting point for conversation and reflection as you begin this process yourself. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=358794 Web 2.0 has emerged into a large, growing, and developing world of content and platforms. Gaming has rapidly expanded into a global industry. In contrast course management systems have developed along very different lines. We examine ways for the CMS to connect with these two worlds, outlining areas for possible development: increased hyperlinking, internal platforms and instances, and extruded applications. Additionally we consider ways by which the CMS can learn strategically and conceptually from Web 2.0 and gaming. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=367524 An article about social networking safety. The abstract reads, "Recently, public attention has focused on the possibility that social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are being widely used to sexually solicit underage youth, consequently increasing their vulnerability to sexual victimization. Beyond anecdotal accounts, however, whether victimization is more commonly reported in social networking sites is unknown...״ http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=358796 The proliferation of immersive, three dimensional virtual environments presents educators with a moment of creative possibility in designing the next generation of computer-assisted learning. At the same time, the fact that these environments may be inscribed with particular value sets and power relations presents educators with a burden of pedagogical responsibility. This paper attempts to begin a conversation about some of the hidden considerations that may be confronted as virtual learning environments become more accessible, acceptable, and assessable. The author challenges the view that virtual environments are reliably neutral venues for the creation of virtual identities that escape the culturally constructed power configurations of the offline world. Indeed, the very dichotomy between real and virtual is itself questionable. While the promise of virtual learning environments is real, it is often unrealized. Educators have a responsibility to critically engage the implicit assumptions embedded in the technology they would ask students to use. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=360253 Online learning is used in many institutions of higher education with course offerings ranging from complete online degrees to hybrid virtual and physical courses. Online learning environments are complex environments using a variety of technologies and tools to overcome time and location restrictions. The research presented in this article focuses on a web-based asynchronous learning environment and the integration of usability factors into the evaluation of student learning outcomes. Usability tools are often employed in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) to measure the quality of a users experience when interacting with a web site and could potentially impact learning in web-based online learning environments. This study investigates the relationships between usability factors and learning outcomes in an online learning environment as well as differences in learning outcomes and system usability between several selected student groups, including student computer competency scores, gender, age, and student standing. The results of this survey-based study highlight the importance of integrating usability factors into the evaluation of learning outcomes in online learning environments. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=358784 While American institutions of higher education still lead the world in quality of instruction, research and service, certain trends are challenging their future. Immediate attention to resolving these issues is necessary if the American university is going to maintain world leadership in the foreseeable future. The theory of transactional distance is put forward as a roadmap for changing the industrial system of education to a post-industrial one in which each learner receives differential instruction based on his or her prior knowledge of the subject matter, learning preferences and metacognitive states. Management of learning and teaching is described in a dynamic environment in which learners can participate in defining the level of autonomy with which they are comfortable, and instructors can set the required level of structure according to the characteristics of each discipline taught thus providing the appropriate level of transactional distance at each point in time for each individual learner. Ramifications of this environment for the structure of the university are discussed and components of a future educational management system are specified. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=360256 This paper reports on an investigation into student conceptions of blended learning, (hybrid in US) in the light of their experience of a Higher Education Masters level module at a British university. The small scale study used a rigorous qualitative method to discover in the students words a range of conceptions relating to this learning experience. The students conceptions were related to the stage of study and an analysis of motivations for learning in this context. The study identified a new dimension of learning motivation with practical implications for attempting to blend traditional face-to-face teaching methods with online support and study options. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=360259 The author traces her attitude-reversing experience developing, against her professional judgment, an online version of a skill-based, interactive collective bargaining class for undergraduate college students. The author explains the methods used to teach the class and lists the advantages and disadvantages of teaching a skill-based class online. Finally, she relates this class to best online instructional practices, concluding that the significant advantages compensate for the absence of in-person communication in a traditional classroom. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=358791 In the context of the future of learning management systems, this paper examines the concept and perception of a learning environment from the classroom to the internet and their relationship to perceptions of teaching and learning. Examples and research, including an example of an activist Web 2.0 pro-social effort, are used to demonstrate the distinction between the current state of teaching and learning, and an emerging model and vision. The implications for necessary future directions to mediate the contrast are discussed. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=360251 The use of online ancillary tools in technology based pedagogy is growing. This paper examines student reactions to an online audio conferencing tool used as a part of both online and traditional communication courses. Students were e-mailed four broad, open-ended questions to gather the most authentic reactions to their experience with the conferencing tool. Most frequently, students cited convenience and increased interactivity as positive aspects of using the conferencing tool. "Technological problems" was the most frequently cited drawback to the tool.