The contents of the latest issue of:

International Journal of Distance Education Technologies (IJDET)

Official Publication of the Information Resources Management Association

Volume 8, Issue 2, April-June 2010

Published: Quarterly in Print and Electronically

ISSN: 1539-3100 EISSN: 1539-3119

Published by IGI Publishing, Hershey-New York, USA

www.igi-global.com/ijdet

Editors-in-Chief: Qun Jin, Waseda University, Japan

PAPER ONE

Technological Supports for Onsite and Distance Education and Students’ Perceptions of Acquisition of Thinking and Team-Building Skills

 Jennifer Thomas (Pace University, USA)

Danielle Morin (Concordia University, Canada)

This paper compares students’ perceptions of support provided in the acquisition of various thinking and team-building skills, resulting from the various activities, resources and technologies (ART) integrated into an upper level Distributed Computing (DC) course. The findings indicate that students perceived strong support for their acquisition of higher-order thinking skills and team-building skills from the offline resources, but moderate support from the online resources and technologies provided in the course, which was in opposition to the grades received. It also seems that those in the traditional computer lab setting perceived online resources as more supportive of higher-order thinking skills than those in other sections and those in the electronic classroom perceived the least support. The results were mixed for team-building skills and for offline resources support for higher-order thinking skills. In particular, distance students deemed the text and material in Blackboard less important for developing these skills than onsite students.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=42091

PAPER TWO

E Learning in Engineering Education: Design of a Collaborative Advanced Remote Access Laboratory

 R.D Samuel (S.J College of Engineering, India)

Attaining excellence in technical education is a worthy challenge to any life goal. Distance learning opportunities make these goals easier to reach with added quality. Distance learning in engineering education is possible only through successful implementations of remote laboratories in a learning-by-doing environment. This paper presents one such technology to carry out laboratory experiments from remote locations. The technology is demonstrated by handling the web interface, which supports the remote experimentation on communication circuits, power system and an embedded board. The implemented system environment facilitates users to perform the experiment remotely and efficiently using only a commonly available, user-friendly web browser. It describes the ongoing research in this area exploiting current telematics techniques, which supports remote experimentation with real hardware via the Internet.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=42092

PAPER THREE

Applying Learning Diagnosis Diagram in Computer Aided Instructions: Research, Practice and Evaluation

YuLung Wu (Kun Shan University, Taiwan)

In Taiwan, when students learn in experiment-related courses, they are often grouped into several teams. The familiar method of grouping learning is “Cooperative Learning”. A well-organized grouping strategy improves cooperative learning and increases the number of activities. This study proposes a novel pedagogical method by adopting the Learning Diagnosis Diagram to obtain students’ knowledge structure. According to each knowledge structure of the student, this study proposes dynamic grouping to solve problems in the conventional once-and-for-all grouping strategy. The dynamic grouping method achieves the best complementary groups for further learning stages. Two courses were applied to conduct the proposed Two-phase Cooperative Learning. Complementary grouping methods and more interaction among team members are helpful for increasing the effect of learning. Evaluation results indicate that the proposed method significantly improves the learning achievement of all learners.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=42093

PAPER FOUR

Wrestling With Online Learning Technologies: Blind Students’ Struggle to Achieve Academic Success

Samuel Muwanguzi (University of North Texas, USA)

Lin Lin (University of North Texas, USA)

This study examines the usability challenges and emotional reactions of blind college students in their attempts to access online educational materials and to communicate with colleagues through online technologies. A case study approach was adopted. Five students were interviewed regarding their online learning experiences using Blackboard, a popular Course Management System. Analysis of the interviews revealed that Blackboard was poorly accessible to the blind students, which affected achieving their academic goals. The study also showed that the blind students were motivated and optimistic of their successes despite their frustrations and feelings of marginalization. The study suggests that academic administrators and database designers work jointly with adaptive software developers in developing enhanced user interfaces to ensure universal access and usability of online technologies and to reduce educational inequities and frustrations encountered by blind students.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=42094

PAPER FIVE

Cloud Computing Based E-Learning System

 Samuel Muwanguzi (University of North Texas, USA)

Lin Lin (University of North Texas, USA)

Cloud computing technologies although in their early stages, have managed to change the way applications are going to be developed and accessed. These technologies are aimed at running applications as services over the internet on a flexible infrastructure. Microsoft office applications, such as word processing, excel spreadsheet, access database and many more can be accessed through the internet, even though the files and applications are housed in the cloud. Cloud computing provides a low cost solution to academic institutions for their researchers, faculty and students. This setup provides an additional benefit because all these browser-based applications can also be accessed through mobile devices in addition to being available to a variety of laptop and desk top computers, provided internet access is available. In this paper we present a solution that is based on cloud computing and can be used for building a virtual environment both for teaching and learning. We present an interactive tool that can be used for science education; we combined various technologies to achieve this goal. The environment and the design proposed can also be used as a platform for exploring and sharing new ideas as well as for designing, modifying and monitoring educational or course contents. In our design under the same environment we also allow integration of different pedagogical approaches to both learning and teaching.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.

http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=42095

*****************************************************

For full copies of the above articles, check for this issue of the International Journal of Distance Education Technologies (IJDET) in your institution's library.  This journal is also included in the IGI Global aggregated "InfoSci-Journals" database:  www.infosci-journals.com.

*****************************************************

CALL FOR PAPERS

Mission of IJDET:

The International Journal of Distance Education Technologies (IJDET) publishes original research articles of distance education four issues per year. IJDET is a primary forum for researchers and practitioners to disseminate practical solutions to the automation of open and distance learning. The journal is targeted to academic researchers and engineers who work with distance learning programs and software systems, as well as general participants of distance education.

Coverage of IJDET:

Discussions of computational methods, algorithms, implemented prototype systems, and applications of open and distance learning are the focuses of this publication. Practical experiences and surveys of using distance learning systems are also welcome. Distance education technologies published in IJDET will be divided into three categories, communication technologies, intelligent technologies, and educational technologies:

Automatic assessment methods

Automatic FAQ reply methods

Broadband and wireless communication tools

Copyright protection and authentication mechanisms

Distributed systems

Effective and efficient authoring systems

Individualized distance learning

Intelligent tutoring

Mobile systems

Multimedia streaming technology

Multimedia synchronization controls

Neural network or statistical approaches to behavior analysis

New network infrastructures

Practical and new learning models

Quality-of service issues

Real-time protocols

Interested authors should consult the journal's manuscript submission guidelines at www.igi-global.com/ijdet

All inquiries and submissions should be sent to:

Editor-in-Chief:  Dr. Qun Jin, jin@waseda.jp