Papers by Jacqueline Batchelor
Most recently, traditional universities have offered online degree courses which have been charac... more Most recently, traditional universities have offered online degree courses which have been characterised by high attrition rates. In this study, students were provided with individualized online formative feedback with the aim to improve the quality of their learning. The importance of social influence (descriptive and social norms) in the acceptance and use of feedback in an undergraduate online module was investigated through a survey based on the social construct of the modified Unified Theory of Acceptance and the Use of Technology (UTAUT2). Survey data from two cohorts of students were examined using exploratory factor analysis to validate the questionnaire items and regression analysis to build a one factor predictive model. Parametric analyses showed that both descriptive and social norms were important components of social influence in the acceptance and use of formative feedback in an online course.
New and emerging technologies continue to disrupt the teaching and learning processes and these n... more New and emerging technologies continue to disrupt the teaching and learning processes and these new innovations are not always easily accepted. In this study, the researchers employed Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) in order to identify the factors that influencing the use and acceptance of a digital emerging technology called the VIA App at a private higher education institution in South Africa. VIA App is a wireless presentation and synchronous collaboration application affording multiple users access to shared content that can be review a quantitative descriptive approach wed and amended in real-time during the learning process. This qualitative study made use of a questionnaire to teste six of the UTAUT2 constructs to determine acceptance using a 5-point Likert scale. Results indicate constructs such as performance expectancy significantly influence the use and acceptance of VIA app. In addition, findings suggest that effort expectancy, social influ...
This paper reports on the reflections of lecturers in an undergraduate course in an education fac... more This paper reports on the reflections of lecturers in an undergraduate course in an education faculty focusing on the national imperative to incorporate education technologies into the teaching and learning of student teachers. The emphasis of this paper is on the disconnect we have encountered after engaging students in authentic and collaborative tasks in the development of their own personal digital identity and professional network. Findings show that although some students struggle to find the relevance in the seemingly unstructured approach to authentic constructivist learning, at least half of the cohort is comfortable with the nature of the tasks although they question the relevance of personal networks for professional purposes. INTRODUCTION: THE PRE-SERVICE TEACHER AND TECHNOLOGY “South African education is doomed until teachers are taught” (Roach, 2010). Such headlines are becoming more prevalent in the South African media and allude to the current inadequate workforce ch...
Teacher education institutions are often criticized as being distant from practice and ineffectiv... more Teacher education institutions are often criticized as being distant from practice and ineffective in preparing student-teachers for the demands of the profession. This paper reports on a research project conducted to explore student’s views of their pedagogical content development during an authentic and extended teaching intervention. In this research we investigate learning in practice, through a simulated teaching experience where pre-service teachers taught Life Sciences as an additional subject to learners from a teaching school in Johannesburg. Participants committed to attend classes on Saturdays at the university. This project blends elements of the Japanese Lesson Study approach, where students prepare and present lessons in groups of four. This differs from normal school experience, in that the pre-service student teachers take sole responsibility for learning activities. It increases their exposure to the practice of teaching and allows them to concentrate on expanding p...
In this study, the attitudes and the opinions of grade 11 learners in one of the pilot schools wi... more In this study, the attitudes and the opinions of grade 11 learners in one of the pilot schools within the Hewlett-Packard National Education Technology Assessment (HP NETA) project were assessed regarding tablet computers after one year of a pilot plan that included the distribution of tablet computers to learners for learning science and mathematics. This present research attempts to answer the research question on whether the use of tablet computers in a mathematics class has a positive effect on the learners’ attitude and opinions towards learning mathematics. We also investigated whether there is meaningful difference between male and female learners’ usage of tablet computers on their attitudes toward using tablet computers for learning mathematics. Quantitative and qualitative data collection tools were used in the research. The Attitude to Learning Mathematics with Tablets Questionnaire was developed for the purpose of this research which was used in evaluating the learners’ ...
2007: 3rd International Conference on Social and Organizational Informatics and Cybernetics
This paper captures the sentiments of pre-service teachers and describes conceptions of learning ... more This paper captures the sentiments of pre-service teachers and describes conceptions of learning in the third year of their professional degree in education. The problem we identify in this study is that many students have not changed dominant mental models of learning over the past 3 years of university life. Past exposure to poor role models is a reality which leads to the development of strong mental models which influence their conceptions of learning. We now investigate conceptions of learning through a quantitative analysis of responses to an electronic questionnaire based on the view that a sociocultural perspective on learning can be useful when a collaborative and purposeful transformation of the world is the goal. Initial findings show that student conceptions of learning are diverse and profoundly embedded in ideologies, ethics, and values rooted in their collaborative social and historical contexts. In contrast, many students are changing conceptions of learning and tran...
This study reports on design criteria for mobile phones as developed and implemented by students ... more This study reports on design criteria for mobile phones as developed and implemented by students during a school research project, tasking them to create resources for their disadvantaged peers who have with no access to educational resources and traditional internet capabilities via desktop. Teaching strategies utilized, and events leading up to and culminating in students being critical creators of educational material, factors that influenced their decision making process as well as design features of the artefacts will be covered. Design criteria were negotiated, and articulated and used as a rubric for assessing and scoring entries. Findings indicate that even though they were very competent mobile phone users, they were not confident in their more traditional ICT skills but were very willing to learn. The transfer of concepts and skills from phone to desktop applications was observed.
The African Journal of Information Systems, 2021
The focus of the study was to determine the factors that influence the acceptance and use of onli... more The focus of the study was to determine the factors that influence the acceptance and use of online feedback in an undergraduate module using the modified unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2). The participants were third-year pre-service teachers in the Bachelor of Education degree who were taking a fully online Teaching Studies module, in addition to their specialist subject areas at one of the universities in South Africa. A survey instrument was developed from the original UTAUT2 instrument and modified where appropriate, to fit the formative feedback context. Exploratory factor analysis was used to validate the instrument. The validated instrument yielded respectable reliability and construct validity. Confirmatory factor analysis verified the measurement model. The findings suggest that hedonic motivation, perceived relevance, habit, and social influence significantly affect the behavioral intention to use and accept online formative feedback, accounting ...
Perspectives in Education
Some pre-service teachers struggle to understand the elements of learning design. A good grasp of... more Some pre-service teachers struggle to understand the elements of learning design. A good grasp of learning design is important in designing effective learning activities. Subsequently authentic tasks, such as massive open online course (MOOCs) were used to expose the pre-service teachers to elements of learning design. A descriptive case study was used. In this case study the purpose was to investigate how pre-service teachers' reflections after participation in self-selected MOOCs informed their understanding of Advanced Educators Pedagogy (LEAP 21) learning design elements. The pre-service teachers completed an online questionnaire about their understanding of LEAP21 learning design elements while being guided by the LEAP21 framework, the same framework which was then used to conceptualise the study. Magnitude coding was done where instances of good understanding and weak understanding of learning design were captured. The results showed the design elements of skilled communic...
Abstract Mobile technology has allowed the traditional boundaries that exist between formal learn... more Abstract Mobile technology has allowed the traditional boundaries that exist between formal learning and informal learning to blend. The purpose of this research is to understand and describe the use of established and new “support networks” and the process of knowledge acquisition and knowledge creation in a formal learning environment. Factors affecting the design, testing and ultimate feasibility of using mobile devices such as cell phones to enhance teaching and learning in well-resourced developed, and under-resourced ...
Southern African Review of Education, 2019
The fourth industrial age is characterised by artificial intelligence (AI) playing an increasingl... more The fourth industrial age is characterised by artificial intelligence (AI) playing an increasingly important role in many occupations. In the field of education, statements such as 'Robots will replace teachers by 2027' (Houser 2017) have been made. But the act of teaching is complex and, while technology will inevitably influence the judgement and practice of teachers, it is not possible to reduce that complexity to a set of algorithms. Instead, we envisage complementary roles for teachers and robots and propose that teachers learn to embrace the affordances of technology to improve learning. Working with the idea that teacher education programmes have a twofold task-preparing students with specific teacher knowledge to function in the schools of today, and equipping them to operate in an increasingly complex world-we wanted insight into what young student teachers thought about these issues. We posed the questions: 'If, as some claim, a robot can do the work of a teacher, what is the future of teaching?' 'Will teachers still have a role to play in educating children?' Data comprised student teachers' responses to a number of prompts related to this central issue in a competition that ran over a four-week period. These were analysed for content and discourse, and provide insights into how students in two teacher education programmes think about their task of making professional judgements in the classrooms of the future.
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Papers by Jacqueline Batchelor