International Handbook of E-Learning Volume 2

Implementation and Case Studies

Mohamed Ally, Badrul H. Khan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317643562
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Adult Education

The International Handbook of e-Learning, Volume 2 provides a comprehensive compendium of implementation and practice in all aspects of e-learning, one of the most significant ongoing global developments in the entire field of education. Covering the integration, challenges, implications, and context-appropriate use of open education networks, blended learning, mobile technologies, social media, and other platforms in a variety of unique international settings, these thirty contributions illustrate the wide-ranging applications and solutions made possible by this rapidly growing new paradigm. Case studies are driven by empirical research and attention to cultural specificity, while future research needs are discussed in relation to both confirmed practice and recent changes in the field. The book will be of interest to anyone seeking to create and sustain meaningful, supportive learning environments within today's anytime, anywhere framework, from teachers, administrators, and policy makers to corporate and government trainers.

1
Opening Digital Learning for Deeper Inquiry

Jon Mason and Hitendra Pillay

Introduction

Advancements in learning technologies are being driven from an increasing diversity of domains of practice and research. Through identifying the evolution of e-learning and its transformation to digital learning from various historical standpoints, this chapter highlights that contemporary development within the field of e-learning points to opportunities for technological innovation and practical implementation of e-learning that provides support and scaffolding for inquiry. Discussion is first focused on the issue of terminology and the broad semantics associated with e-learning. The fact that this term has been widely adopted and defined in diverse ways, however, is not necessarily an academic problem to be solved—certainly not here. One of the themes this chapter is concerned with is the broad range of semantics associated with the word open. In the latest edition of the Australian Macquarie Dictionary, for example, there are well over 80 different meanings listed. Such breadth also brings high utility.

Historical perspectives on the evolution of the theory and practice of e-learning are also presented to show that this field can be accurately described as emergent. Because of the scale of the development and diversity of inputs, there is not one history of e-learning. History is always a combination of facts and interpretations contextualized by time and changing circumstances. For example, when the web was first invented, there was an abundance of literature that emphasized the revolutionary nature of hypertext and hypermedia (Landow, 1991). Yet, in the contemporary setting the discourse has moved on, and hypertext is rarely mentioned—whether it is highlighting the revolutionary nature of digital technology itself (as in the Australian Government’s Digital Education Revolution policy launched in 2008) or a particular facet, as in the literature associated with mobile learning, where mobility refers to the learner, the technology, and the learning itself (El-Hussein & Cronje, 2010; Oller, 2012; Sharples, Taylor, & Vavoula, 2007).

The theme of openness in education is given emphasis in this chapter for the reason that it provides an informative case study on the social response to the evolving digital infrastructure that supports learning (OECD, 2007). Opportunities for the “open agenda” to move forward into new territory are identified, and by corollary, therefore, also point to opportunities for digital technology to likewise develop (Leeson & Mason, 2007). Of course, while openness is valued highly in the education sector, it is not the only driver of change or innovation with ICT that matters (see Figure 1.1). Social media continues to shape the nature of much engagement online and the late 20th-century mantra that “content is king” is giving way to a fresh focus on so-called 21st-century skills, where content is co-constructed by users and is often transient, and competencies such as digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem solving are seen as more important (Griffin, McGaw, & Care, 2012). Oller (2012) argued that the big shift in e-learning theory and practice is currently being driven by mobile technologies, where the so-called natural user interface (NUI) enabled by handheld devices is surpassing the windows-icon-mouse-pointer (WIMP) paradigm of the personal computer era. Meanwhile, discourses on sense-making and developments in knowledge management and knowledge-sharing infrastructures continue to inform the theory and practice of e-learning (see, for example, papers published in Knowledge Management and e-Learning—an International Journal). While acknowledging all these trends as significant the open agenda is highlighted for two other reasons:

1. It is an agenda that is deeply embedded within the history of the Internet and web, and can be seen to reflect this broader development in its own historical progression; and,
2. it provides suitable context for a frontier ready for further technological innovation: the stimulation and support of questioning online through open inquiry-based learning.

Within this setting, research into why-questioning is then highlighted to emphasize that, despite all the technologies and tools already available, a frontier for tool development focused on inquiry-based learning is yet to be adequately explored. This is the case largely because why-questioning, while so important during inquiry, presents numerous technical challenges for digital tool development. Why? Because the semantics involved typically involve ambiguity, dialogue, or further inquiry. Investigation into why-questioning reveals that the object it seeks is typically explanatory content. Such content is not straightforward to discover through conventional search engines because they are calibrated to retrieve information based upon factual data and sequential logic. While content that can be characterized as such thus presents challenges for learning technology design, it also presents opportunities for innovative technology to support and stimulate reasoning skills and deep inquiry.

E-learning and Digital Learning

A review of the literature associated with digital learning shows it to be inextricably linked to e-learning, a term which reveals a wide domain of usage and conception. It is therefore important to make explicit what is meant by this term as it has been appropriated by diverse communities of practice since it first appeared in mainstream discourse around 1998–1999 (CIPD, 2008; Cross, 2004; Garrison & Anderson, 2003). Digital learning is a more recent term and arguably has broader long-term utility in that it comfortably describes learning via all kinds of technology devices that are built primarily for other purposes—such as games for entertainment or navigation through GPS.

Without embracing the term digital learning recent research aimed at developing an “inclusive definition of e-learning” and conceptual framework that supports it (Sangrà et al., 2012) identifies four broad categories of definitions: technology driven, delivery-system oriented, communication oriented, and educational-paradigm oriented. This research was itself based on literature dating from 2005 and supplemented by a Delphi survey of international experts. This time constraint is perhaps limiting, however, because it is arguable that in the period 2002–2005 a number of other definitions already had high acceptance among practitioners and policy makers—for example:

1. For the OECD, e-learning refers to “the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance and/or support learning in tertiary education” (OECD, 2005, p. 11).
2. For the UK Department for Education and Skills, “if someone is learning in a way that uses information and communications technologies (ICT), they are using e-learning” (DfES, 2003).

But we are now well into the second decade of the 21st century, and it is clear that e-learning is a term that may be subsumed into digital learning— this is further highlighted by the appearance of a fairly awkward term, mobile learning, that is essentially e-learning through mobile (typically hand-held) devices. However, there is a significant body of literature devoted to e-learning and this term can signify both a theoretical discourse and a range of activities that take place in many contexts—formal and informal, within educational institutions and workplace settings, or elsewhere “any time any place,” as the saying goes. Adopters of the term include corporate training associations, professional associations, academic web enthusiasts, government policy makers, software vendors, standards development organizations, and military organizations, just to name a few (Mason, 2005, p. 320). There are distinctions according to context. For example, Bates (2004, p. 275) identified key differences between postsecondary education and corporate settings—the latter being more concerned with the broader context of knowledge management and the former focused on learning and research. In an attempt to broaden philosophical perspective, Friesen (2009, p. 20) put the case for “re-thinking e-learning research” and argued for a “reconceptualization of e-learning as an inter- and cross-disciplinary endeavor.” Conceptualizing in even broader terms, Cooper (2010) argued that its scope of activity is best understood as “emergent” and therefore subject to analyses that highlight perspectives on “complexity.” Others prefer to use the related terminology “online learning” to frame the challenges of “integrating technology into classroom instruction” (Tomei & Morris, 2011). For the purposes of this chapter, however, e-learning is considered as being transformed to digital learning and defined as learning that is facilitated by engagement with ICT. Figure 1.1 summarizes some of the historical inputs that have shaped this evolution.

Figure 1.1 A Snapshot of Digital Learning Inputs

In tracking the evolution of e-learning as it progresses to open digital learning, both multidisciplinary and “transdisciplinary” research is required because the perspectives required typically involve what has been termed “Mode 2 knowledge production” (Manathunga, Lant, & Mellick, 2006, p. 365). This approach is necessary in order to span the relevant inputs enabling digital learning as well as to identify opportunities for future development. It is also arguably the case that the conceptual boundaries that define e-learning as an academic discipline are also emergent (Cooper, 2010)—as the term can describe both formal and informal learning enabled by ICT, and the ubiquitous nature of learning seems to blur the traditional conceptual boundaries thus creating confusion among digital learning practitioners. The following discussion on key historical developments is therefore intended to highlight the key drivers of digital learning over time.

Historical Perspectives

A recognition that the educational potential of existing, emerging, and future developments in digital technologies is applicable beyond formal schooling is now commonly discussed in many diverse settings (daily newspapers, school curriculum support materials, political party policy documents, workplace human resource departments, standards-setting bodies, academic literature, and in higher education strategic planning). This has come about largely since the invention of the World Wide Web, although prior to this the potential of educational technology was recognized at various other historical moments (such as with the inventions of radio, television, personal computers, and digital media). Not only has evolution of the World Wide Web taken place within a short period of time accompanied by rapid innovation, it has been transformative, representing a global revolution in the production, distribution, and access to information and communications (Benkler, 2006; Castells, 1996, 2001). For instance, the shift from analogue TV to digital is transforming that tool as a complex and multilayered educational tool.

A number of c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• About the Editors
• Contributing Authors
• 1 Opening Digital Learning for Deeper Inquiry
• 2 Using Social Media in the Online Classroom
• 3 The Integration of Educational Technology in Education and in the Workplace: An Organizational Perspective
• 4 Mobile Learning in Higher Education: Current Status and Future Possibilities
• 5 Media-Based Learning Methodology: Stories, Games, and Emotions
• 6 A Case of Distance Education Through Social Network Sites
• 7 Multimedia Production Projects: Relevant Issues and Possible Models for Mobile Learning
• 8 Learners of Digital Era (LoDE): What’s True, and What’s Just Hype About the So-Called Digital Natives
• 9 Blended Learning in Higher Education
• 10 ePortfolio Development and the Potential Relationship to Learning Theories
• 11 Development of a Context-Appropriate E-learning Site
• 12 Education’s Second Life: Virtual Learning in Higher Education
• 13 Lifelong Learners and Teachers’ Time-Management Competency in E-learning
• 14 Library Support for Online Learners
• 15 2D and 3D Virtual Environments: Communication Potentialities for E-learning Education
• 16 Open and Virtual Universities Worldwide
• 17 E-learning and Mobile Learning Development in the State of Qatar
• 18 Implementing Mobile Learning Devices Into Tertiary Classrooms: A UAE Case Study
• 19 E-learning Implementation at an Open University: The Case of Universitas Terbuka (The Indonesia Open University)
• 20 Maximizing Study Hours With Cloud-Based and Mobile-Based E-learning: A Case Study at a Full-Online University in Japan
• 21 E-learning in India
• 22 Using Mobile Phones for Teacher Professional Development in Bangladesh: Views of Secondary School Teachers and Teacher Facilitators
• 23 Managing the Change During E-learning Integration in Higher Education: A Case Study From Saudi Arabia
• 24 Issues and Implications of Integrating E-learning at Arab Universities
• 25 E-learning for Continuing and Professional Development
• 26 Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and Dewey’s Theory of Experience to Interpret Faculty Experience of E-learning at one School of Public Health
• 27 A Blended Learning Approach to Team-Oriented Work in Large Classes: A Facebook Case Study
• 28 Mobile Learning BYOD Implementation in an Intensive English Program
• 29 Blended Learning and Teaching—A Panacea for Students With Learning Disabilities
• 30 Supporting Student Engagement in E-learning in a Resource-Constrained Institution: Experiences From Makerere University
• Glossary
• Index