Research Article
Ali Simsek, Shirley Nuss
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 288-305
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate how elementary students can learn about the culture of another country and how technology can play a role in this process. The sample of the study included 135 fifth grade students from the United States and Turkey. Initial knowledge and information sources of students were assessed at the beginning of the study. Then, they exchanged multimedia presentations which they prepared to make their peers more knowledgeable about their own country. After studying the presentation about the other country, the students responded to a post-survey assessing their knowledge gains. Results showed that the Turkish students had much more initial knowledge about the American culture compared to knowledge of the American students about Turkey. Both groups had certain prejudices or misperceptions about each other. Media, school, and family were main sources of information, while books and friends played a small role. Studying multimedia-based presentations and discussing its content as a group was highly effective to learn about the culture of another country. By exchanging intercultural information through technology, students became less prejudiced and more understanding of each others’ respective cultures.
Keywords: Intercultural learning, Cross-cultural education, Multimedia-based learning, Information and communication technologies, Snapshots
Research Article
Hwee Ling Lim
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 306-321
ABSTRACT
Sociocultural constructivism assumes that a learner’s capacity for intellectual growth increases with the presence of scaffolding or support during interaction. Moreover, from participating in dialogic interaction, there is appropriation of the knowledge shared and jointly created by learners which could transform individual understandings. Hence, interactions are opportunities for scaffolding and appropriation that affect intellectual development. This paper presents a study of an online course based on constructivist principles and evaluates the extent to which an instructional activity, supported by synchronous communication technology in a virtual environment, fosters collaborative learning. Survey findings on two student groups’ experiences of collaborative learning during online tutorials are presented. The results indicated that scaffolding was available as peers’ efforts in provision and clarification of ideas during tutorial discussions. Also, appropriation of shared knowledge was present as students’ perceptions of own attainment of learning from peer contributions during discussions. The conclusion discusses the effectiveness of the instructional activity in facilitating collaborative learning and offers recommendations for future research.
Keywords: Collaborative learning, Computer-mediated communication, Educational technology, Sociocultural constructivism, Virtual learning environment.
Research Article
Yavuz Akbulut
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 322-334
ABSTRACT
A recent survey study with 2515 pre-service teachers suggested an underlying structure to shelter ICT integration indicators. Eleven indicators were extracted, which were Teaching-Learning Methods, E-learning, E-interaction, Learning Communities, Infrastructure, Access, Ease of Use, Technical Assistance, Policy, Special Education and Health. In addition, the study provided interrelationships among variables which could lead to an ICT integration model for teacher training institutions. The current study administered the survey to 255 pre-service teachers to confirm the suggested factor structure. Based on the relationships among constructs that were provided in the previous study, second-order analyses were conducted revealing a potential pathway to an ICT integration model. The model indicated that the Policy of the institutions was at the center predicting Infrastructure, Special Education, Health and Teaching-Learning Methods. Infrastructure predicted Access, Ease of Use and Technical Assistance; whereas Teaching-Learning Methods predicted E-interaction, E-learning and Learning Communities. Implications and recommendations for further research are provided.
Keywords: Country-specific developments, Post-secondary education, Teacher training, ICT integration, Structural equation modeling
Research Article
Alaba O. Agbatogun, Peter A. Ajelabi, Lawunmi M. Oyewusi
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 335-347
ABSTRACT
This study was designed to investigate the relative and combined contributions of cognition and emotion on Nigerian undergraduate students’ level of computer frustration in online environments. A total of 1972 (Male=987, Female=985) students randomly selected from the two state-owned universities in Ogun State of Nigeria participated in the study. The data for the study were collected through the use of Students’ Cognition Scale (SCS), Students’ Emotion Scale (SES) and Students’ Computer Frustration Scale (SCFS). Data analysis involved the use of mean and standard deviation as descriptive statistics as well as Pearson Product Moment Correlation and regression analysis as inferential statistics. The research findings revealed that students encountered various frustrating experiences during e-registration, when a combination of the predictor variables (cognition and emotion) significantly accounted for 2.5% to the variance of the students’ level of frustration during e-registration. Meanwhile, cognition was found as the potent contributor of students’ frustration during e-registration. The results of this study further indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the level of computer frustration among students of different universities. Recommendations were made according to the findings of the study.
Keywords: Cognition, Emotion, Computers frustration, Online registration
Research Article
Suzan Duygu Eristi, Ozden Sahin-Izmirli, Serkan Izmirli, Mehmet Firat, Halil Ibrahim Haseski
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 348-366
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to develop a scale which could be used to evaluate instructional website designs from the perspective of visual perception theories. For this purpose, a scale of 50 items was developed based on the literature and expert opinions. Visual perception theories such as Gestalt Theory, Brunswick’s Probabilistic Functionalism, Neuropsychological Theory, Theory of Direct Perception and Ecological Optics, Constructivist Visual Perception Theory and Computational Approach to Visual Perception provided a basis for the development of scale items; also a focus group discussion was employed. 196 students from the Computer Education and Instructional Technologies (CEIT) Department filled the scale. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied along with the principal component method on data. Following the factor analysis, a single factor scale was developed. The loading of each item in the scale was found to be over .30. The internal consistency coefficient of the overall scale was high (α=.961). The corrected item-total correlation coefficient of the items was .301 and over. Through factor analysis, it was revealed that the scale had a single-factor structure with an explained variance of 35%. At the end of the study, several recommendations were presented for future studies.
Keywords: Visual Perception, Scale development, Instructional website, Factor analysis
Research Article
Bahar Baran
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 367-380
ABSTRACT
This study investigates university level students’ experiences of designing lessons with an interactive whiteboard as an instructional medium. The sample consisted of 40 students who will be both moderator of technological resources in schools and computer teachers after graduation from university. In the design of a lesson process, the ASSURE instructional design model was their roadmap. The results showed that none of the students had used interactive whiteboards before the course. However, most of them knew interactive whiteboards from other courses, seminars, or the Internet. Nearly half of the participants had some hesitations when they first learned that they were going to use interactive whiteboards in the course. After using it during a lesson, however, their opinions became positive. In addition, ASSURE instructional design model let them to progress systematically and step-by-step. Most of them had problems to find educational software to use with interactive white board. That is, their primary problem was with the “select instructional methods, media, and materials” step of the ASSURE model.
Keywords: Interactive whiteboard, Instructional design, ASSURE, Technology integration