Issues
12

EAI Endorsed Transactions on e-Education and e-Learning

Editor(s)-in-Chief: Giovanni Vincenti and James Braman

Education is one domain that has accompanied civilization throughout the centuries, adapting its tools to fulfill the expectations of students and the needs of teachers. Such tools can be as obvious and traditional as pencils and notebooks, or as complex and innovative as websites or multi-user vir…

Education is one domain that has accompanied civilization throughout the centuries, adapting its tools to fulfill the expectations of students and the needs of teachers. Such tools can be as obvious and traditional as pencils and notebooks, or as complex and innovative as websites or multi-user virtual environments. Typical in-person learning environments, such as classrooms and meeting rooms, are at times not the best solution to enable and maximize a studentÕs ability to learn. Although they do fulfill their purpose of giving students the opportunity to understanding course material and to of reaching their instructors, they sometimes can create barriers that cannot be easily overcome. Web-based instruction and multi-user virtual environments allow more freedom in terms of time restraints and the physical limitations innate to typical lectures and classroom settings. Through these innovative mediums we can explore concepts while being a part of a learning community through socialization and collaboration online. Many universities, public institutions and private businesses are projecting themselves on the Internet and in virtual worlds to reach the customer at any time, giving them the notion of a virtual presence that cannot be delivered through a simple website. This observation sparks the idea that is at the very foundation of this publication with a focus on e-learning and e-education. This journal’s aim is to become a central repository of information about the utilization of on-line education through web-based instruction and multi-user virtual environments. With this journal we wish to create a one-stop resource to teachers, researchers and practitioners who wish to access information of high quality and broad coverage. Topics to be discussed in this journal focus on (but not limited to) the following concepts: * Teaching/Educational Models and Frameworks * Accessibility and usability of web-based instruction in the classroom * Best Practices * Developing courses and content to be used in on-line educational environments * Student engagement * Experiments * Impacts of on-line on traditional teaching and learning strategies * Cost analysis

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Submission Instructions
Publisher
ICST
ISSN
2032-9253
Published
27th Sep 2011

  • Letter to the Reader

    Research Article in EAI Endorsed Transactions on e-Education and e-Learning 11(7–9): e1

    Giovanni Vincenti, James Braman

    Abstract
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  • Digital ethnicity: discussion of a concept and implications for education

    Research Article in EAI Endorsed Transactions on e-Education and e-Learning 11(7–9): e2

    Nan B. Adams, Thomas A. DeVaney

    Abstract
    Interaction with the rapidly expanding digital technologies for education, work, and play has drastically changed the processes and practices of world populations. As societies evolve in response to …Interaction with the rapidly expanding digital technologies for education, work, and play has drastically changed the processes and practices of world populations. As societies evolve in response to these new communication and calculation tools, the need arises to understand the sometimes unique but increasingly common change in cultures. The Digital Ethnicity Scale (DES), utilizing Longstreet’s (1978, Aspects of Ethnicity (New York: Teachers College Press) model of the Aspects of Ethnicity, was developed to describe the emergence of new cultural patterns of behavior that result from the influence of human interaction with digital communication technologies (Adams, DeVaney, and Longstreet (2010) Comput. Hum. Behav. 26(6): 1822–1830). Longstreet’s definition of ethnicity focuses on cultural development during the earliest stages of human development, prior to the onset of children’s abstract thinking. The ultimate goal for the development of the DES is to describe those aspects of digital ethnicity and collect these descriptions along with demographic data to achieve profiles of various digital ethnicities. A discussion of the guiding concept and overview of the development of the DES seeks to present a description of these digital ethnic profiles that may provide insight into the educational needs of rapidly changing societal groupings with hopes of providing guidance for educational practice.
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  • Conceptual design of collaborative virtual environments for education using a theater-based metaphor

    Research Article in EAI Endorsed Transactions on e-Education and e-Learning 11(7–9): e3

    Alberto Bucciero, Anna Lisa Guido, Luca Mainetti

    Abstract
    Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) are becoming more and more important in many areas because they offer users the opportunity to experiment with novel interaction paradigms in order to perfor…Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) are becoming more and more important in many areas because they offer users the opportunity to experiment with novel interaction paradigms in order to perform collaborative work or have engaging experiences ‘being together’. One of the most promising application fields is eLearning, where CVEs give the unique opportunity to explore effective educational formats. Surprisingly, if compared with other more traditional fields as software engineering and database, we note a lack of design approaches. We point out that a well-founded design approach is crucial to develop collaborative experiences that could generate substantial and measurable educational benefits. To meet this challenge, in this paper we present a set of founding concepts that enable pedagogs and teachers designing effective 3D virtual worlds for education. To keep our concepts simply understandable, we based our design method on a widespread metaphor: the theater. We demonstrate through a real case study the promising advantages of our approach: expressiveness to capture collaborative features at a high level of abstraction, semi-formality to facilitate the establishment of a common ground between educational designers and CVEs engineers, and guidance to enable non-experts to cope with all the relevant aspects of a 3D virtual world.
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  • On the importance of social network sites in the transitions which characterize ‘emerging adulthood’

    Research Article in EAI Endorsed Transactions on e-Education and e-Learning 11(7–9): e4

    Gianluca Frozzi, Elvis Mazzoni

    Abstract
    Modern-day economic and socio-cultural developments require people to be ever more specialized and mobile in their educational and professional choices. This is particularly relevant for ‘emerging ad…Modern-day economic and socio-cultural developments require people to be ever more specialized and mobile in their educational and professional choices. This is particularly relevant for ‘emerging adults’, that is to say, those who find themselves at that stage of life when their scholastic or university education ends, and they begin to make choices regarding their professional working life. Transitions between different activity systems, and changes of residence which they entail, make ‘emerging adulthood’ a particularly unstable period in which young people continually dissolve, create and recreate relationship networks of varying degrees of importance which are able to support them through these changes. Beginning with empirical evidence and theoretical starting points typical of the psychology of education and development, this contribution proposes a theoretical reflection which attempts to analyze the efficacy of Social Network Sites in facilitating and supporting emerging adults during their education and vocational training and the important transitions which they have to face as they develop.
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  • An e-tool for undergraduate surveying education: design and evaluation

    Research Article in EAI Endorsed Transactions on e-Education and e-Learning 11(7–9): e5

    Hazar Dib, Nicoletta Adamo-Villani

    Abstract
    We describe an innovative e-tool for Surveying Education, report the results of a pilot study with a group of undergraduate students, and discuss lessons learned and future work. The e-tool consists …We describe an innovative e-tool for Surveying Education, report the results of a pilot study with a group of undergraduate students, and discuss lessons learned and future work. The e-tool consists of two parts: a student’s component and an instructor’s component. The students’ component is a 2D Virtual Learning Environment that can be used by students to review surveying concepts and practices and get feedback on their understanding of the subject. The instructor’s component is a summative assessment tool that measures the individual student’s cognitive and practical abilities with accuracy. Results of the pilot study show that students perceived the application as easy to use, useful for reviewing class content, and effective at providing immediate and accurate feedback on their performance. A comparison between the grades obtained by manually grading the field exercise and the grades generated by the e-tool showed a significant disagreement between the two sets of data, with the electronically generated grades being much lower. The study revealed the limitations of the current tool due to its dimensionality (i.e. 2D) and suggested the need for a more realistic 3D learning environment.
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  • The design of inclusive curricula for multi-user virtual environments: a framework for developers and educators

    Research Article in EAI Endorsed Transactions on e-Education and e-Learning 11(7–9): e6

    Denise Wood

    Abstract
    Increasing access to Information Communication Technologies and a growing awareness of the importance of digital media literacy have led many educators to seek innovative solutions to harness the ent…Increasing access to Information Communication Technologies and a growing awareness of the importance of digital media literacy have led many educators to seek innovative solutions to harness the enthusiasm of ‘net gen’ learners while also enhancing their ability to collaborate, communicate and problem solve augmented by digital technologies. One of the emergent trends in response to these demands has been the shift away from traditional models of teaching to more flexible approaches such as the use of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) designed to facilitate a more collaborative and participatory approach to student learning. At the same time, international initiatives such as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, Education for All and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have highlighted the importance of ensuring that such teaching and learning environments are inclusive of students with diverse needs. Many universities are also responding to a widening participation agenda; a policy focus which aims to increase both the access and success rates of students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Educational technology has long been regarded as a means by which students who may be isolated by disability, geographical location and/or social circumstances can gain access to such learning opportunities. The growth in the use of MUVEs combined with increasing access to mobile communications opens up new opportunities for engaging students from diverse backgrounds through virtual learning environments. Yet despite the potential, there are many challenges in ensuring that the very students who are most able to benefit from such e-learning technologies are not further disadvantaged by a lack of attention to both the technical and pedagogical considerations required in the design of inclusive e-learning environments. This paper reports on the findings of research funded through an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Grant, which aims to increase the opportunities for learners to participate more fully in education through an accessible multi-user virtual learning environment. The paper draws on ethnographic research, trials of undergraduate courses and a framework that can guide educators and designers in developing curricula that maximises the pedagogical affordances of e-learning technologies such as MUVEs, while also addressing the needs of diverse learners.
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