EDUCAUSE2007 and E-Learning

This session will cover lessons learned and best practices for creating highly interactive, student-centered, rich-media online courses with customizable and mobile learning using Mediasite video streaming and video and audio podcasting. It will include a tour of a course Web site, 10 principles for good practice for innovative online education, and a course design toolkit.

A challenge arises in making digital information and communication technologies accessible to indigenous communities. From digital preservation of cultural and historic artifacts to embedding culturally sensitive materials in academic courses, technology can become a double-edged sword: it can be deployed to obfuscate a critical analysis of how "communication" is understood as meaningful by First Nations themselves.

This session will report on the results of an exploratory study meant to determine students' receptivity to a blended learning environment and its impact on academic performance. Unique was its focus on two sections of a large Introductory Psychology course (n=1,000), whose enrollees were mostly freshmen new to the university environment.

We discuss a methodology for abstracting enterprise services and the policies that dictate them through the use of a Web-based user interface. This establishes a unified tool for publication, storage, and recovery of files that streamlines training and support costs, facilitates innovation, and promotes the continued evolution of enterprise-level solutions.

The demand for quality, effective online teaching environments is growing. Using three research studies (on social presence in distance learning, threaded discussion, and student technology usage), Academic Outreach proposed synchronous and asynchronous educational strategies to faculty and students in distributed/blended learning environments. Don't miss this opportunity to hear our results.

This session will discuss the methods and preliminary results of the first and second steps of a three-step process for assessing a survey's validity. The survey of interest was designed to expand on McVay (2000, 2001) and Bernard et al. (2004), as well as examine learner characteristics and technology capabilities of online students.

Today’s students favor visuals and social computing tools, while instructors want to foster the development of deep, expert knowledge. Using concept maps connects student desires and instructor objectives. INHOLLAND University of Professional Education and the University of British Columbia have innovatively linked concept maps, rich media, and Web-based content.

At INHOLLAND University students learn in a visual and social online environment, using concept maps to engage in argumentation, writing, reflection, and brainstorming. Combinations of concept maps and rich media with a learning management system, wikis, and blogs help students create a unique yet structured viewpoint that retains a bird’s-eye view of complex ideas and concepts.

Instructors and staff from INHOLLAND, SURFdiensten, and UBC will discuss the process of choosing, implementing, and piloting a new concept mapping tool; demonstrate 10-plus practices and templates; and present tools in a hands-on manner.