A Methodology For Developing Blended Courses Integrated With Web 2.0 Technologies

8/12/2019 A Methodology For Developing Blended Courses Integrated With Web 2.0 Technologies

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8 - th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE E-COMM-LINE 2007, Bucharest ,

Septemer 20, 2!, 22, 2007

A METHODOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING BLENDED COURSES INTEGRATED WITH

WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES

Carmen Hoo!e"#$

Department of Computer Science, University Politehnica of Timisoara, Timsoft, Romania

C%r&"!&ne Nena 'ara(&ann&

Research Academic Computer Technology nstitute Rion, !reece

S)*ro" Pa)a+a,&"

"ellenic #pen University, $aculty of Sciences % Technology Patras, !reece

Ga-r&ea Gro""e#,

Department of Social nformatics, &est University of Timisoara, Romania

A-"!ra#!This paper is a result of the #'()$A * #pen 'lend(d )earning $or Adults, a t+o years proect funded +ithin the (CS#CRAT(S -!RU.DT/! Programme and presents a methodology for developing 0lended courses, +ith a focus on using &e0123technologies2 The main aim of #'()$A +as to create 0lended learning courses for adults, related to specific topics for specific

target groups, +ith a 0alanced rate of face to face and online lessons, and to revive interest on learning as a prere4uisite for furthereducation2 Depending on the technical conditions and 5no+ledge of the participants, there +ere used different e)earning methodsand different devices for easy access to learning materials and support2 The 0enefits of using &e0123 technologies are underlined2

'e*or+"/0lended learning, education, distance education, e)earning, adult education, online courses, &e0123 technologies2

I. In!ro+$#!&on

The social, economical and political changes, along +ith the development of the information

society indicate clearly that 5no+ledge +ill 0e more and more the 0asis of our society2 The need for

lifelong learning has 0een recogni6ed 0y governments and policyma5ers across all developed

societies2 ndividuals need to cope +ith the ever changing demands of +or5, of a changing society,

and the increasing insecurity of employment, as 0oth state and employers +ithdra+ from paternal

roles2

Therefore the lifelong learning process ta5es place not only in schools and in vocational conte7ts

0ut more and more in the private area2 Classical learning in classrooms changed into e)earning

a0out ten years ago 0ut its success +as limited 0ecause learners never came to the same

environment +ith the instructors2 .o+adays any approach 0ecame more +ide spread +hich is

called -en+e+ earn&n(2 n this approach students follo+ the courses through #D) 0ut from time

to time they come to classrooms and discuss the su0ect +ith the tutors and peers2A mi7ture of face*to*face and distance education and the integration of synchronous and

asynchronous learning tools provide an optimal possi0ility for the arrangement of effective learning

processes2 n the #'()$A proect, +e have investigated ho+ to motivate target groups +hich have

not 0een interested so far in further training, each for different reasons2 The main focus +as to

revive interest on learning as a prere4uisite for further education2

(ach individual has got his-her o+n learning e7perience2 To increase the chance of learning +e

used the personal e7perience and individual needs of the learners2 &e +ere a+are of the social

conte7ts of the learners2 "ighly interactive and pro0lem solving approaches for learning in real life

conte7ts +ere used2

The courses +ere developed in a fle7i0le e)earning environment that allo+s people to ta5e part in

training despite their physical and other a0ilities 8forming individual learning portfolio, organi6ingteaching according to learning o0ects92


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Septemer 20, 2!, 22, 2007

A. Par!ner"%&). #'()$A proect started in #cto0er 133: and has 0een run until Septem0er 133;

+ith financial support through the (U programmes 8!< Socrates !rundtvig 11:1=:*CP*

autonomy

the adults have a clear image of ho+ they +ill use the ne+ information and to +hat degree it

is useful for them

they assume an active role

they are oriented to+ards solving practical pro0lems, and achieving a +ell*defined purpose

they have professional and life e7perience2

All these motivate the adults into participating in a course +hich offers useful elements for their

professional life and career2 The facilitator must contri0ute to maintaining their motivation, 0y

everything that helps 0uilding the learning process2

An adult gets involved in the colla0oration +ith the others, communicates and interacts +ith

maturity and e4uili0rium +ith the other participants2 The degree of involvement is ho+ever

influenced 0y the +ay in +hich his-her e7pectations are met2


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Septemer 20, 2!, 22, 2007

(ach participants previous e7perience leads to an e7change ofknow-how, to the revelation of tacit

5no+ledge2 The facilitator should pay a ma7imum of attention to the monitoring, the animation of

discussion spaces, +hich should facilitate their e7perience sharing2 )earning is a social act, +hich is

often performed 0y informal sharing of opinions2

Courses ta5e place in a constructive, student*centred manner2 The teacher shifts from the traditional

manner, +here he-she simply transmits the information, to that of a facilitator +ho enters thestudents team and helps them 0uild their 5no+ledge, as a manager of the learning process2

The entire learning process is realised 0y case study, problem based learning, group work2

Participants not only ac4uire 5no+ledge, 0ut these are also used in solving practical pro0lems2

There are learning theories stating that study, memori6ation and success of learning depend mainly

on the relationship 0et+een the student and the teacher-facilitator2 Therefore, the attitude adopted

should 0e very open2

B. Com)o"&!&on an+ +e"&(n o a -en+e+ earn&n( )ro(ram

n our design, a 0lended learning program is divided in 0lended learning courses2 A 0lended

learning course is composed of face*to*face lessons and distance education lessons2 (ach lesson

consists of learning and interactive activities2 (ach learning activity is composed of learning o0ects

and feed0ac5 services, as sho+n in $igure


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Septemer 20, 2!, 22, 2007

The developmentphase concerns the content and communication services2

&hat learning o0ects are availa0le

&hat is the availa0le and-or afforda0le infrastructure

&hich are the most appropriate CT means to ensure availa0ility, openess, friendliness,

interactivity, etc

&here is the e4uili0rium 0alancing e*tutoring and face to face teaching in order to meet our

0lended learning o0ectives

n the implementationphase the follo+ing actions are ta5en>

The material for the f1f and online learning are created

A virtual learning environment is open and the space is prepared +ith all the needed

information

The modules are pu0lished online

The 8pilot9 course is run2

The evaluationphase is an ongoing process +hich ta5es action during and after the course, in +hich

the follo+ing aspects are studied and measured2

&hich is the utility of the course for the participants &hich is the participants involvement

&hich is the degree of interaction generated 0y the material

&hich is the impact of the course for the participants careers and for their organisations

F&(. 2. The ADD( model

Te materials for a course should meet the follo+ing re4uirements>

to contain useful, ne+, +ell*organised, inciting, interactive, motivating information

to represent the necessary 0asis for accomplishing the course o0ectives

to ans+er to various learning styles

to ma5e use of the participants previous e7periences

to 0e practice*oriented to encourage reflection and further research

to offer a 0asis for discussions, activities2

Eore over, since it is not an easy tas5, a team is usually set up to design and implement a 0lended

course2 This is made up of specialists in the course topics, programmers, proect manager2

#ur methodology includs also aspects related to course efficiency monitoring and evaluation2 A

course can 0e said to 0e efficient +hen its o0ectives are met2 $or eficiency evaluation, +e have

proposed t+o stages> a formative one, during the course itself, +hen the facilitator can ta5e into

account the participants and partnersF opinions in order to ma5e improvements, and a summative

one, occurring at the end of the course2

C. F2 an+ on&ne a#!&1&!&e"

The evaluation of the courses run during the proects leads to the follo+ing conclusions related tothe 0enefits of using f1f and online activities for the vulnera0le adult groups2


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Septemer 20, 2!, 22, 2007

Why is traditional classroom teaching is important for vulnerable adult groups?

esta0lishes a direct connection and sharing 0et+een facilitators and participants

provides clarification on different su0ects, thus increasing the participants confidence

and motivation

at least a part of group proects are easier to 0e done

permits to reali6e a common pace for participants in studying the materials2

Why is eLearning technology important for vulnerable adult groups?

These technologies support many different types of capa0ility>

access to digital versions of materials unavaila0le locally

communication tools for colla0oration +ith other adult*students and tutors

internet access to search, and transactional services

interactive diagnostic or adaptive tutorials

interactive educational games

personali6ed information and guidance for learning support

tools for creativity and design

virtual reality environments for development and manipulation

electronic devices to assist disa0led learners

tools to create portfolios such as 0logs2

(ach one encompasses a +ide range of different types of interaction and possi0ilities for feed0ac5

and colla0oration2

III. Te#%noo(&e" $"e+ &n !%e )roe#!

An important issue in the proect +as the use of open standards, open source soft+are, and ne+

colla0orative technologies2A. Par!ner"4 #oa-ora!&1e )a!orm

The success of the proect could 0e reached only +ith a continuous colla0oration of the partners,

and +ith a good management of the coordination team2

$or all the duration of the proect the partners have colla0orated on an online platform at

http>--+++2o0elfa2eu, implemented and administrated 0y the !erman partner, using the open*source

Goomla system2 All the steps of the proects +ere discussed on the platform forums, having access

to the proect documents hosted 0y the platform too2

A wikicontaining information a0out technologies and strategies to 0e used for preparing and

running the courses +as continuously developed 0y the partners from the 0eginning of the proect2

Together +ith the conclusions resulted from the evaluation of the courses, the +i5i +as used to

0uild the 0lended learning methodology guide2'efore launching each pilot course, the materials +ere revie+ed 0y the other partners@ also the

interaction on the online platform +ere monitored 0y the partners and they gave useful feed0ac5 on

the proect colla0orative platform2 This +ay peer-mentoring connections 0et+een the team

mem0ers +ere created, each could learn form the othersF e7perience2

The pu0lic part of the platform including a colla0orative 0log +as an important tool for the proect

dissemination, together +ith the 0logs o+ned 0y a fe+ partners2

B. V&r!$a earn&n( )a!orm

Almost all the courses developed in the #0elfa proect +ere hosted on a Moodle platform2 The

reasons for choosing this platform are> is open*source@ has interfaces in all the languages of the

partners@ is fle7i0le, easy to use@ has the facilities needed for group proects@ provides a lot of

modern technologies 8or has e7tensions for9> RSS feeds, 0logs, +i5i, podcasts, connection +ithSecond )ife platform 8Sloodle9 etc2
http://www.obelfa.eu/http://www.obelfa.eu/


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Septemer 20, 2!, 22, 2007

C. We-2.0 !e#%noo(&e"

The team of Timsoft, the Romanian partner, has reali6ed a deeper research in the field of using

&e0123 technologies in the 0lended courses2 #ne of the courses implemented 0y the Romanian

partners deals +ith &e0123 technologies in education, preparing facilitators to use suchtechnologies in their courses, this course itself 0eing an e7ample of good practice2

The Timsoft team has used for the courses its o+n virtual learning platform e)earnTS see

$igureH2 The platform is 0ased on open technologies * )AEP 8 )inu7, Apache, EySI), P"P 9, and

offers 0logs for participants and RSS feeds, and integrates other &e0123 technologies2

&e consider that each course, each ne+ learning e7perience in +hich some0ody ta5es part, should

0e integrated in the continuous learning process in +hich that person is implied, should 0e

connected +ith her - his aims, +ith her - his practical activities and future career2

.o matter +hich is the su0ect of a course, one of the tas5s of the participants and the facilitator is

to 0uild together a pool of useful resources for future reflections too> RSS feeds, 0logs of the

facilitator, participants, other practitioners, +i5is +ith topics related to the course, collections using

colla0orative 0oo5mar5ing systems2

The colla0orative e7ercises and group proects reali6ed 0y the participants could use &e0 123 tools2

Thus the e)earnTS platform is open to online resources, to &e0 123 applications, 0eing integrated

+ith the personal learning environments of the participants2

F&(. 5. e)earnTS Platform

IV. T%e -ene&!" o $"&n( We-2.0 Te#%noo(&e" &n -en+e+ #o$r"e"

A. We-2.0 +e&n&!&onThe ne+ technologies and services offered 0y the nternet, generally called &e0 123, refer to the

social use of the &e0, and allo+ people to colla0orate, to get actively involved in creating content,

to generate 5no+ledge and to share 8e7change9 information online2 )ess than H years a+ay from the


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Septemer 20, 2!, 22, 2007

moment +hen Tim #Reilly launched the concept, it is generally ac5no+ledged that &e0 123 is an

um0rella term, +hich includes a very large range of applications and services +hich use the &e0 as

a unitary platform, organi6ed on communication2

Although a clear definition of +hat &e0 123 is doesnt e7ist yet, here the ne+ model refers to a

collection of technologies and methodologies +hich render the &e0 a lot more participatory, more

semantic, more personali6ed, and more immediate2 Perhaps its most significant approach is the factthat it is more a socio*cultural phenomenon, rather than a technical one, an attitude rather than a

technology, the fact that it has 0ecome more personal to the users, emphasi6ing the development of

communities and the strength of something done together2

Specific technologies contri0uting to &e0 123 include 0logs, +i5is, syndication of content through

RSS feeds, podcasting and videocasting for audio and video content, screencasting, social

0oo5mar5ing, media sharing, social net+or5ing and other artifacts of social soft+are2

B. We-2.0 !e#%noo(&e" &n -en+e+ #o$r"e"

So +e have &e0 1232 'ut +hich technologies and tools can 0e used in 0*learning The ta0le --+++2elearnmag2org-su0page2cfmsectionQarticles%articleQ1M*" Methodology #or

$esigning "nd $eveloping %pen &lended 'ourses #or (ulnerable "dult !roups, The ;th

nternational Conference #n Technical nformatics 8Conti133L9, = * M Gune 133L,

Timioara, Romania

;2 Carmen "olotescu, !a0riela !rossec5> &e0 123 Technologies in (ducation *http>--+++2timsoft2ro-space:, 133;

=2 Unesco /irtual University * http>--+++2unesco2org-iiep-virtualuniversity-

M2 (du$orge * http>--eduforge2org
http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/et_2010_en.htmlhttp://www.epic.co.uk/content/what_we_do/blended_learning_index.htmhttp://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=29-1http://www.timsoft.ro/space5http://www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity/http://eduforge.org/http://eduforge.org/http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/et_2010_en.htmlhttp://www.epic.co.uk/content/what_we_do/blended_learning_index.htmhttp://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=29-1http://www.timsoft.ro/space5http://www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity/http://eduforge.org/

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A Methodology For Developing Blended Courses Integrated With Web 2.0 Technologies