Journal of Educational Technology Systems

With the advances in Internet technologies, online education is fast gaining ground as an extension to traditional education. Webcast allows lectures conducted on campus to be viewed by students located at remote sites by streaming the audio and video content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. However when used alone, webcast does not provide the form of user-to-user interaction that is so important in education. This article presents a collaboration system that can be used to facilitate interaction among users in a live webcast environment. The collaboration system supports real-time communication in both text and audio modes. To allow discussions to be carried out in an orderly manner, a virtual hand-raising scheme is implemented to put more control in the hands of the instructor. Using a topic browser, students can access content of previous discussions and use them as reference sources for any new question they may wish to raise. To allow offline viewing, the discussion content are automatically saved to the local computer at the end of each collaboration session.

Advancement in information and communication technologies has brought about the development of newer tools that can promote collaborative learning. Conversant Media is a tool that allows users to engage in collaborative discussion based on viewing authentic video footages. This article reports the impact of the use of the tool on collaborative learning in a teacher education course. The trainee teachers engaged themselves enthusiastically in this exercise going beyond the minimum number of postings expected of them. Both the quantity and quality of interaction improved over the three activities they were engaged in. Writing critical comments on classroom events and reading feedback from peers were highly valued by the trainee teachers. Conversant Media has the potential for use in teacher education as an alternative means to classroom visits.

This study examines the influences of learners' characteristics on the development of computer self-efficacy using the GOMS (goal, operators, methods, and selection rules) model. Students' learning style, prior computer course experience, and computer self-efficacy were measured in the pretest, and computer self-efficacy was measured in the posttest to examine the development of computer self-efficacy during the fall of 2001 in a computer introductory course in a non-traditional Taiwanese University. Results indicate that there were statistically significant effects of learning style and prior computer course experiences on computer self-efficacy. The follow-up analysis revealed that the Converger learning style students (abstract learners) outperformed other learning style students (concrete learners). Furthermore, a positive linear relationship was found between computer self-efficacy and the number of prior computer courses taken, which indicates that the more courses students had taken, the higher the level of computer self-efficacy the students developed. The result did support the GOMS model as a useful theoretical model to improve the computer literacy instruction.

The innovative use of information and communication technology is becoming increasingly popular among higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The motivation for adoption is expedited by great promotive efforts within the academic communities that accompany the current high level of financial, hardware, and software resources deployed in all education sectors. Web-based course management tools are also available campus-wide. Novice Web-adopters are likely to rely on these tools to develop on-line instruction because of the relative ease to get started. Since not much is known about local Web users, this study aims to explore how university instructors in Hong Kong adapt to this new mode of instruction and make use of the Web-based learning tools in teaching. Seventeen instructors from a university in Hong Kong who are novice Web-adopters were interviewed. Their perceptions toward Web-based instruction, reasons of adoption, degree to which their expectations were met at the end of the semester, and their evaluations of the Web-based course delivery system were examined. Some instructors tended to look at technology and innovation from a “performance enhancement” perspective. However, the present findings suggested that it is also necessary to be aware of the potential limitations resulting from using technology to implement learning activities. Finally, the support needs for instructors are discussed based on the research findings.

Many studies have been conducted to verify the effect of learner characteristics and motivation in traditional classroom, but very few are found in online learning research. This study sought to identify what learner characteristics and motivation types affected a group of undergraduate students' learning and application of learning for a course conducted online. Utilizing quantitative and qualitative analyses, the study found that gender and employment status affected online learners' learning and learning application. Several motivation variables were also found to significantly influence online learners' learning application. Discussions of instructional strategies to promote learner motivation and satisfaction in online learning environment were included.

This study examined the effects of a Web site design project on students' motivation and achievement. Tenth-grade biology students worked together in teams on an ecology project that required them to locate relevant information on the Internet, decide which information should be included on their Web site, organize the information into Web pages, and link the pages together. A comparison group received traditional ecology instruction that included lectures and labs. Data sources included motivation questionnaires, achievement tests, student attitude questionnaires, and teacher interviews. While both groups showed similar achievement gains, the students that designed Web sites were more motivated than the students that received traditional instruction. Advantages and disadvantages of the Web site design project are reported and discussed. The results of this study indicate that it is feasible for a high-school teacher to use a student-as-designer model of instruction with Web-based technology.

The present study investigated the impact of making lecture outlines available on-line via Blackboard 5 on exam performance of students enrolled in introductory psychology. Performance of students in a class with access to information on Blackboard was compared to that of students in a class without such access. These classes were held in successive semesters, but had the same instructor, teaching assistants, textbook, lectures, and exams. Results showed that, across the three exams, students in the course with access to information via Blackboard performed significantly poorer than did students in the class without access to it. Performance in the laboratory section of the course, in which Blackboard was not employed, did not differ between classes. Thus, despite several potential positive ramifications of allowing increased access to lecture information, the impact of such access was not positive. The decreased exam performance may have been the outcome of decreased lecture attendance due to access to lecture information outside of lecture and several measures are discussed which could potentially address this possibility. The present results should alert educators not to rush to introduce technology into their course without serious consideration of the potential positive and negative outcomes such an introduction might have.