Wong Lung Hsiang, Nanyang Technological University

Gao Ping, Nanyang Technological University

Chai Ching Sing, Nanyang Technological University

Chua Chee Lay, CL Lab

Chung Tze Min, Nanyang Technological University

Recent advances in computer technology have made the input of Chinese characters more users friendly. These advances, when considered from a pedagogical point of view, may afford new opportunities for students to enhance their learning of Chinese language in general and composition writing in particular. In this exploratory study, we engaged six primary school students in using Chinese software and hardware, namely, Chinese input tools (with both the input modes of pinyin and handwriting) and Chinese e-dictionary, in hope that they would enhance their Chinese composition writing. Qualitative analysis of the observation, video recordings and interview data collected reviews that while the affordances of the technology may be logically conducive for pedagogical purposes, a careful match between the students' language entry level skills and thoughtfully designed pedagogical support are necessary for the affordances of these new tools to be exploited. The input systems and the user interface may also need redesign from an education standpoint if they are to support learning for primary school students.

Schostak John, Manchester Metropolitan University

The applications to education of information technologies is explored in the context of the emergent or ‘next generation’ information technologies which through the European Union’s FP6 and upcoming FP7 programmes are developing ambient, intelligent, anywhere, anytime technologies. Traditional approaches to ‘schooling’, ‘training’, ‘education’ are inadequate to meet the challenges. The concepts of person, place, community and time are rendered out of joint by these technologies. It is argued that education in such globalised, technicised contexts needs to be informed by the radical democratic approaches of such theorists as Virilio, Laclau and Mouffe, Rancière and Castoriadis if it is to remain relevant. In order to explore the implications of these ideas for developing educational relevant approaches to implementing next generation information technologies a range of the author’s recent research projects – funded by HEFCE, DfES, Creative Partnerships and the European Union - on the use of information technology to support on-line communities are drawn upon. One contemporary commercial organisation currently has 100,000 school aged children on-line as well as over 11,000 teachers and is aiming for 2 million across the world. What now does this mean for the concept of ‘school’? Who is it for? Who ‘controls’ its agendas, its courses, its contents, its ‘standards’? And ‘who’ is on-line, what are their intentions? How are the vulnerable to be protected? What counts as a ‘curriculum’, ‘standards’ and ‘learning’ in an age of globalised access? What are the local impacts? The paper discusses the nature of educational communities and the ‘intelligence communities’ that arise as members explore common projects (Schostak 1988). The paper explores whether educationists are ready for the leading edge, emergent and next generation technologies, examining the educational principles, the practices, and the frameworks that need to be developed by schools, teachers and learners to meet the challenges.

Yueh Hsiu-Ping, National Taiwan Normal University

Tien Chun-Yu, National Taiwan University

The game “Romance of Three Kingdoms” is a very popular game in Chinese society for many years. Many school kids even college students just love it very much. Players would even exchange ideas or strategies of how to get marks or breakthrough the bottlenecks they encountered. And since the essence of the game is about the war, most players see it as great challenges when they want to win the battles which in turns would bring them great satisfactions of achievement.

However, the game is so complicated that it may take students a great deal of time on it even just learn how to play it at the beginning. As long as they are so into it, then students won’t spend enough time on their own study. How to convert a sophisticated game with prosperous content knowledge of history into an edutainment tool or even an educational learning program to make students learn with fun? We see there are great chances to make this transformation.

In this paper, we firstly analyze the content and functions of the “Romance of Three Kingdoms” game; find out the goods and bads of its educational implications. Secondly, we therefore design some components with specific functions to be integrated into this game to support historical knowledge acquisitions and articulate possible critical thinking strategies in the new environment. Thirdly, we conduct a pilot study to investigate the usability and effectiveness of our prototype design by asking high school students to field test and evaluate the design. Finally, we report our findings and propose design principles of the game-based knowledge constructing learning environment as well as facilitation strategies for teachers to adopt the game like “Romance of Three Kingdoms” in their teaching practice.

Lee Wai Keung Alpha, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Penfold Paul, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Kong Wai Fan, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hospitality and tourism is a key industry for Hong Kong and recognized by the Government as one of the pillar of the Hong Kong economy. The HK tourism industry reached record figures in 2005 with over 23 million visitor arrivals, up 7.1% year-on-year. Hotel occupancy was at an average of 86% in 2005, and by June 2006, there were 601 hotels/tourist guesthouses in Hong Kong, totaling 48,197 rooms. Many hotel and tourism courses have a strong operational and customer service element, and yet students have little experience of many hospitality scenarios discussed in their classes. To help university students to prepare for industry placements and eventual work, there was a need to provide them with a valid and realistic training in hotel service operations. Funded by the e-Learning Development and Support Section of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a virtual hotel (Virtel – SHTM’s Virual Hotel), was developed by the collaboration of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) and the School of Design (SD) to provide an opportunity for students to practice customer service and operational skills in an online, multi-user 3D simulation. This article reports on the development of Virtel from a pedagogical perspective. Active learning, with a strong reflective element, with teacher guided discussion will be a valuable asset to our range of teaching methods. Virtel aims to help teachers provide a realistic hospitality setting, and provide challenges and scenarios that allow students to apply their theoretical learning to situations, develop their thinking skills and develop their workplace skills. Virtel is an active learning tool that could be used by different classes and lecturers to enhance learning and skills application, and help students to face realistic workplace situations, and learn how to respond and prepare for live situations in a non-threatening way. We believe Virtel can impact on student learning by equipping teachers to deliver high quality learning experiences and use e-learning effectively to help students communicate/collaborate more extensively.

Lee Wai Keung Alpha, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Leung Bo Wah, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

This paper reported on the design, development and evaluation of “Seeds of Harmony”, an online multi-user edutainment platform on music creativity. This project aimed to provide an immersive, interactive and inspirational virtual environment where user can interconnect to creative music. Through “Seeds of Harmony”, learners can a) learn basic knowledge in creating music, b) observe skills in creating music, c) theorize when creating music, d) experiment with creating music, e) experience creating music, and f) create music in a creative and entertainment-enriched environment.

Sangsawang Thosporn, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Jitgarun Kalayanee, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Purpose of this research was to study student’s self appraisal for online learning. Sampling group chosen for this study consisted of 100 Rajamangala University students. Tool for data collection was a questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using frequency, percentage, and content analysis. Results of this study were that: 1) Most students look forward to learning new skills, but they would rather have face-to-face interaction and need faculty to constantly remind them of due dates and assignments, 2) Most students can go to campus anytime, and the amount of time they have to work on an online course is less than for a class on campus; therefore, online learning is a personal interest that could be postponed, 3) As of other items, most students need reminding to get things done on time, classroom discussion is sometimes useful to them, they try to follow the directions on their own, then asking for help as needed, and sometimes need help to understand the text.

De Vos Louis, University of Brussels

Sylla Ndella, University of Brussels

This research concerned the biology course. It was conducted over a period of 3 years and included 1500 students (500/year) of the First Year Medicine degree. The biology course used two approaches one of which is face-to-face between the teacher and his 500 students, the other consisting in providing some electronics resources materials available on a website. The website was designed to help students learn the subject matter and apply it to new situations through analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Therefore the available electronics resources were: an electronic version of the course, Labs, MCtests, learning strategies with Concept Mapping, and FAQS. The core of website was the forum where students could ask questions about the essential facts, and concepts dealed with in the main topics developed in course, Labs and tests. Our objectives were to:

• examine the effects of an electronic medium, their adoption or rejection,
• examine how to conciliate traditional delivery of teaching and e-learning,
• identify students learning approaches via the medium and within the group,
• identify the teacher’s and resource person’s (mediator) roles in this new environment,
• identify the features of website management: time consuming and in relationships between members of the team teaching (teacher, mediators and persons who managed the technical supports…)

In this order, our analyses focused on:

• the number of access to the website (per student or per the whole group),
• the time of students’ access, the time of team-teaching mediating,
• the nature of students’ questions,
• the types of interactions (peer to peer interactions, students and mediator (assistant professor) interactions, mediator and teacher (professor) interactions.

The main findings indicated that learning through ICT introduced radical changes in the ways in which teaching and learning is organized and executed. On one side teaching is constantly reorganised, and on another side learning is built up.

Lee Hwa Phaik, Victoria School

The Internet is often used to transmit information on a wide scale, but online learning by itself may not adequately address the professional development needs of teachers. How may online technologies be used from an overseas course to improve teachers’ performance through fostering understanding, reflection, collaboration, and inquiry?

In this paper, I shall present my reflections on how online professional learning with the Harvard Graduate School of Education has influenced my thinking about teaching practices and the levels of engagement that can be brought about to foster engagement in the classroom. The primary focus is on how professional learning from the online course has led teachers to re-craft the way they design their lessons in the classroom. How online technologies can potentially improve teaching performance by fostering understanding, collaborations, reflection and inquiry is analyzed. How networked technologies can promote learning to such an extent that it can have a positive impact in the classroom will be shown. I shall make the case that online learning can thus help teachers achieve the Singapore’s Ministry of Education paradigm of ‘Teach Less Learn More’ while simultaneously nurturing in students a passion for life-long learning.

The presenter will give examples of the online professional development, by delineating the goals, principles, implementation processes, and results gained from the subject area of Geography.

Lee Wai Keung Alpha, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Trance is a cross-disciplinary edutainment platform for art and cultural subjects in secondary schools funded by the Quality Education Fund, Education Commission, Hong Kong. Trance is developed based on a synergistic approach to enhance outcome of visual arts, music, and other cultural subjects. Trance includes domain-specific modules to complement existing teaching materials in the secondary school curriculum; generic modules to help teachers with the creation, integration, and delivery of edutainment content; a multi-user environment to empower teachers to actively participate in the applications of new technologies in education; and multi-user modules to facilitate collaborative activities. Students and teachers interact with each other, link up their ideas and create story represented as an online 3D virtual worlds. Students can create story, dialogues, music, visual effects, 2D (texture) and 3D graphics (scene), arrange avatars and props in the scenes, and capture the design and development process. Through Trance, participants get inspired and broaden their viewpoint through this active-learning process which involves experimentation, reflection and teamwork.

Castle Sidney R., National University

Neu Beverly, National University, La Jolla California

National University (N.U.) is the second largest private university in California with 29 campuses statewide plus one additional campus in Nevada. The School of Education represents approximately 50% of the entire enrollment of the university and was the first school within the N.U. system to develop a program of online instruction in 1997. Currently, the online component represents almost 65% of the School of Education’s total enrollment of 22,000 students. With the onset of the online academic program, student enrollment has expanded nationally across the United States of American and internationally with students in Central and South America, Europe, and the Far East. Of special note in the study are the dynamics of three cohort groups located north of the Artic Circle in Alaska who completed Masters Degrees in Education Administration.

The paper, whose senior author is the Coordinator of Online Instruction for the N.U. School of Education, summarizes an ongoing multi-year study tracing the growth of the online system and the issues encountered with its growth and the evolving nature of its programs. Among the specific research findings noted are comparisons of academic learning of online vs. onsite students, differences in time spent by instructors and students in the online environment vs. onsite environment, assessment of critical elements of the online environment which correlate with student academic learning and achievement, and a comparison of student withdrawal rates from onsite vs. online courses.

The final section of the paper describes the advantages and impediments that immerging technology imposes upon the online learning environment and the special challenges posed by the expansion of an online learning system as reaches out to students from diverse geographic locations, cultural settings, and linguistic backgrounds. Critical issues of pedagogy/andragogy and the necessary merging of curriculum design and immerging technology in online course design are discussed.

Rumpagaporn Methinee Wongwanich, University of Adelaide

Secombe Margaret, University of Adelaide

Crotty Robert, University of Adelaide

Alagumalai Sivakumar, University of Adelaide

Darmawan I Gusti Ngurah, University of Adelaide

This study examines the integration of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in computer-based classroom learning environments in Thailand. It focuses on the Thai ICT schools pilot project which is using ICT as a combined teaching and learning framework. The study examines to what extent the Thai ICT schools have classroom learning environments that are associated with certain teacher characteristics (e.g. teachers’ critical thinking skills and teachers’ attitudes toward ICT using). It is proposed that students can be assisted to learn critical thinking skills and their attitudes toward ICT might be enriched in ICT classrooms that have particular supportive computer-based learning environments. Using questionnaires, interview surveys, and computer-based classroom observations from 13 Thai ICT model schools has collected data. The data analysis was carried out using statistical techniques as well as using qualitative analysis. The findings of this study have major implications for teachers and school management where ICT schools are being established in Thailand.

Davidson Rafi, Kaye College of Education

Kahan Annette, Kaye College of Education

Online discussion forums are one of the most common and accepted tools for collaborative learning in virtual courses. The forums are a shared online environment that enables collaborative knowledge building and supportive social communities. One of the greatest challenges is promoting discourse and developing a high level of discussion and critical thinking that will produce meaningful learning, as substantiated and comprehensive as possible.

Attaining these goal depends on the motivation of the participants to join forums and to contribute to their peers, on skills essential for critical discussion entailing complex levels of thinking, and on the ability to justify and to back-up arguments.

In order to attain these goals, we designed a self-assessment rubric aimed at raising the level of discussion, and thus improving the quality of learning. This tool includes components of argumentation, critical thinking and encouragement of dialogue between learners, thus enabling students to evaluate their own contribution towards learning. Furthermore, use of the rubric encourages pre-service and in-service teachers to develop the abilities of reflection and evaluation, abilities that are very important in the teaching profession.

The rubric is presented to the students at the beginning of online courses. During the course the students collect their own postings and evaluate their contributions towards the knowledge building of their fellow students. The final grades in the courses are a combination of the student's and the tutor's evaluation.

In our lecture we will present findings from questionnaires and student feedback showing that students believe that the self-assessment rubric contributes towards their knowledge building and their training to be teachers, increases social support, and allows greater visibility as to how they are evaluated in the courses. Content analysis of forum posts shows that the tool raised the level of discussion and increased critical thinking and collaborative knowledge building.

Mohd Noor Mohd Asri, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris

Kamis Hariri, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris

This paper is based on the findings of a recently concluded survey of 350 lecturers from various disciplines at a public university in Malaysia. The purpose of the study was to find out, among other things, the frequency of technology use for professional activities among lecturers. It also investigated how and why technology was used for professional activities, the number of hours of basic technology skills training received and lecturers’ preparedness in integrating technology into classroom lessons. Integrating technology into classroom instruction and curriculum is not a straightforward task. Thus, the study tried to find out whether lecturers received support in managing and incorporating technology into their classroom lessons. Based on the responses received in the returned questionnaires, most lecturers used technology (e.g., computers) daily for professional activities. Lecturers supplied various reasons for using technology such as for sending and receiving e-mails, grading and managing classrooms, and preparing lessons/classroom materials. However, it was also found that the majority of the lecturers were not properly trained in basic technology skills. Most lecturers found it difficult to integrate technology into classroom lessons. Reasons given include inadequate facilities, training and time. More worrying is the fact that more than 25% of the lecturers believed that they were not given enough support to integrate technology into classroom instruction. While schools and universities in the West may not consider facilities as the biggest obstacle in integrating technology into classroom instruction, it is a bane in the East; at least in Malaysian context.

Zou Min, Southeast Missouri State University

In colleges and universities, lectures are the most common form of instruction. As a form of direct and teacher-centered instruction, lectures have been well documented in the pedagogy literature. Lectures are often used to teach organized bodies of knowledge. They are designed to promote mastery of factual knowledge and skills. They are efficient in planning and execution and flexible in adapting to a wide range of subjects. Lectures are also heavily criticized for not actively involving students, not holding their attention, not promoting the retention of material and not supporting multiple learning styles. When in an online teaching environment, such passivity and insensitivity seem to be even more apparent due to the lack of direct face-to-face teacher-student interactions.

However, defenders of lectures believe that lectures are a timeless tradition and when well-designed, lectures are interactive experience that actively engages students in the process of learning and can support diverse student learning styles. In an online environment, such well-designed lectures demand extra efforts from the instructor.

The purpose of this presentation is to describe the efforts the author made in teaching an online course in a teacher education program at an American state university. The author is to share the specific strategies used to make the online instruction delivery, lectures in particular, more engaging for the preservice teachers.

The author used the following strategies to make her online instruction more engaging:

1.Engaging the students from the very beginning with a more reader-friendly format: Unit overview, Warm up activities, Chapter outlines, and Wrap up.

2.Presenting materials through various venues. Important and difficult contents were presented in the following ways in order to provide students with multiple exposures: Written assignments, Online discussions, PowerPoint slides with narrations and Handouts

3.Providing varied and specific examples and modeling for important concepts.

Mar Naing Yee, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre in Bonn

This paper examines the role of the information and communication technologies (ICTs) in advancing the cause of education for all and lifelong learning. After examining the claimed benefits of ICTs for promoting education and schooling, and the characteristics of education and the basic education movement in Asia, the paper focuses on providing a case study of one country in South-East Asia, that of Myanmar, regarding the use of ICTs to achieve lifelong education for all. The paper reports on a research study being undertaken by the author, which examines how ICTs are being harnessed to support educational needs in the formal education system in Myanmar, including basic education, teacher development, and in the higher education institutions under the Ministry of Education. The study focuses specifically on the applications of ICTs for increasing access and improving quality in the context of lifelong learning. The research is based on a field survey and case studies of best practices and innovations in the applications of ICTs to education in the Myanmar education system. By identifying the conditions that must be addressed in making effective use of ICTs for learning and teaching, the results of this study provide much needed feedback to assist the Ministry of Education in Myanmar to operate most cost effectively in this area. Although the paper specifically examines the situation regarding one particular country, lessons learnt from the experience of Myanmar have much to offer researchers, policy makers and practitioners working in the area of the applications of ICTs to education development in other parts of Asia, and indeed in other parts of the world. However, the extent to which the results of this research study are generalizable to other developing countries has yet to be ascertained, since this is beyond the scope of the study reported on in this paper.

Hung H.K.Vincent, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Yuen H. K. Allan, The University of Hong Kong

With the support from the Quality Education Funds, many Hong Kong schools including primary and secondary have been granted to set up Campus TV stations along with the school curriculum. As the number of schools setting up the Campus TV station is increasing, engaging students in video production should have achieved some learning outcomes, though little attention for studies has been paid in this aspect. Reviewing the literature, Jonassen, Carr & Yueh (1998) suggested “students as designers” approach, regarded computer as a Mindtool; students being a courseware designer would learn how to understand, organize and construct individual knowledge. Buckingham, Grahame and Sefton-Green (1995) once suggested asking students to produce video outcome would enhance their understanding on a specific topic. Throughout the video production, students would go through reading, producing and reflection; at the same time the video outcome produced by students is a knowledge representation of their constructed knowledge throughout the process. The paper is going to explore whether video production will enhance students learning: during the video production, some important thinking skills may be enhanced, and the video outcome of the production is a representation of the collaboratively constructed knowledge.