A Mass Collaboration Approach to E-Learning

This chapter provides a comparative study of two Australian regional universities with a similar student profile as they investigate the use of synchronous audiographic web conferencing as a learning and teaching tool. In both universities, the trials of the web conferencing tool, Elluminate Live! (Elluminate) were initially driven by individual academics with an interest in new technologies. While similar in some aspects at the beginning, the two universities then approached the software trials in different ways. As part of this comparison, issues and challenges relating to software trials in educational environments are highlighted, and recommendations provided for others who may be considering the adoption of similar technologies.

2010

This chapter provides a comparative study of two Australian regional universities with a similar student profile as they investigate the use of synchronous audiographic web conferencing as a learning and teaching tool. In both universities, the trials of the web conferencing tool, Elluminate Live!(Elluminate) were initially driven by individual academics with an interest in new technologies. While similar in some aspects at the beginning, the two universities then approached the software trials in different ways.

2012

Description This paper provides an overview of media-rich real-time collaboration tool use for learning and teaching in Australian and New Zealand universities. These tools, which include video conferencing tools, web conferencing tools and virtual worlds, afford students and teachers the ability to synchronously represent concepts, and enable them to interact with one another to negotiate meaning and develop a sense of connectedness. A survey of 750 higher educators revealed that while desktop video conferencing and web ...

Turkish Online Journal of Distance …, 2008

This paper provides an overview of media-rich real-time collaboration tool use for learning and teaching in Australian and New Zealand universities. These tools, which include video conferencing tools, web conferencing tools and virtual worlds, afford students and teachers the ability to synchronously represent concepts, and enable them to interact with one another to negotiate meaning and develop a sense of connectedness.

2011

Description Twenty-first century university students find it increasingly difficult to commit to regular face-to-face classes, yet real-time interaction and collaboration are often essential to achieving successful learning outcomes. This paper outlines the authors' plans for a cross-institutional project funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council aimed at identifying, characterising and evaluating technology-enhanced ways of bringing together on-campus and geographically dispersed students and engaging them in media-rich ...

Australian Journal of Educational …, 1998

The current trend of globalisation is one that is having a marked impact on society and the area of education in particular is feeling the impact. The dramatic changes that are taking place as a result of globalisation means that the demand for education is increasing significantly. There is growing recognition of not only the need for skills development but also reskilling and a requirement for lifelong learning . Additionally, the increasing availability and stability of communications technologies along with the economic rationalisation that is characteristic of the nineties, means that educational institutions are rethinking the ways in which they deliver teaching and learning activities to an increasingly diverse and dispersed clientele.

2010

ALT-C 2010 "Into something rich and strange"making sense of the sea-change Conference Proceedings Editorial 0025 The provision of professional development in ICT: a New Zealand perspective 0055 Strategies for mlearning integration: evaluating a case study of staging and scaffolding mlearning integration across a three-year bachelor's degree 0070 Interactive learning with Tablet PCs: tips for teachers 0080 Taking ownership of e-learning: a transferable mentoring model 0094 Where angels fear to tread: online peer-assessment in a large first-year class 0155 ICT's participatory potential in higher education collaborations: reality or just talk 0163 Placing the student at the heart of the process: using student lifecycle relationship management and service design techniques to enhance the student experience 0176 Empirically based recommendations related to the use of virtual worlds in education 0177 Software to support student team project working: evaluating a prototype 0188 An analysis of first-year business students' mobile phones and their use for learning 0200 Electronic resource discovery systems: do they help or hinder in searching for academic material 0207 Shifting themes, shifting roles: the development of research blogs 0212 SWIFTly enhancing laboratory learning: genetics in the virtual world 0214 e-Feedback and students' changing needs and expectations 0222 Web-based collaboration in Higher Education: small steps towards adoption 0229 Out there and in here: design for blended scientific inquiry learning inspiring new practices 0235 Can student use of Flip camcorders enhance learning with large cohorts? 0256 Hybrid professional learning networks for knowledge workers: educational theory inspiring new practices

Journal of the Research Center for Educational …, 2009

Barriers to classroom-based education such as high gas prices, inclement weather, and job and family requirements often make travel to campus more difficult for people who want to continue their educations (Fletcher, 2008). The promise of synchronous tools such as Wimba LiveClassroom can provide a costeffective alternative to a real-time classroom experience by allowing students to attend a class wherever they are, thus allowing a classroom experience despite geographic barriers. Indeed, other reports have also indicated that hybrid learning can result in increased student outcomes when compared to traditional classroom learning (Brunner, 2006; McFarlin, 2008). To attempt to overcome these barriers, a mid-sized public university piloted Wimba LiveClassroom as a platform for a blended class to allow distant students to be able to take advantage of the University's classes via the Internet. The pilot course, Sociology of Work, was offered at the main campus of a mid-sized public university and simulcast using Wimba LiveClassroom to a student who attended a branch campus about 30 miles away. The nature of the class required that the students be able to view videos simultaneously, participate in discussions, as well as make and react to student presentations. Despite our early and thorough planning, the pilot identified significant technical and organizational obstacles that needed to be overcome on behalf of the faculty member and the support units at the university and the vendor. This project required the successful interaction of the professor, the instructional technology support staff, the networking staff, and Wimba employees, and the computing equipment of the university (both the classroom and the network backbone), the student's provider, and the student's home system. Any problem with one element meant that other elements would not work, and with so many parties necessary for success, inevitably there were problems. Video of class sessions and extracts from communications after each class will illustrate successes and frustrations. The paper will conclude with recommendations for future directions of research and suggestions for restructuring technology and organizations to facilitate future success.

2009

In order to respond to learners' need for more flexible speaking opportunities and to overcome the geographical challenge of students spread over the United Kingdom and continental Western Europe, the Open University recently introduced Internet-based, real-time audio conferencing, thus making a groundbreaking move in the distance learning and teaching of languages. Since February 2002, online tutorials for language courses have been offered using Lyceum, an Internet-based audio-graphics conferencing tool developed in house. Our research is based on the first Open University course ever to deliver tutorials solely online, a level 2 German course, and this article considers some of the challenges of implementing online tuition. As a starting point, we present the pedagogical rationale underpinning the virtual learning and teaching environment. Then we examine the process of development and implementation of online tuition in terms of activity design, tutor training, and student support. A number of methodological tools such as logbooks, questionnaires, and observations were used to gather data. The findings of this paper highlight the complexity of the organisational as well as the pedagogical framework that contributes to the effective use of online tuition via audio conferencing systems in a distance education setting.