eTutor Project
Pilot evaluationreport
aFree, Easy and Effective Web 2.0solution for discovery e-learning.
March12th2009
Mr. James Williams
School of Applied Computing
Swansea Metropolitan University
Mount Pleasant
Swansea
SA1 6ED
Funded by
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Pilot 2 - Personal Computer & Internet Technology:
3. The Learning Environment
4. Mind Mapping software:
5. Google search Engine:
6. Learning Strategy
7. Module Design & Mind Mapping Software
8. Tutor-led Discovery Learning
9. Pilot 2: The Internet Technology unit trial
10. Pilot Outcomes, Activity & Feedback
10.1 User feedback – (P) Problems & Solutions:
10.2 Learners work
11. Custom Search Engines & e-learning Discovery Map:
11.1. Search Method effectiveness test
11.2 Test 1: Standard Google search:
11.3 Test2: Google (CSE) Custom search engine:
11.4 Test3: Google refined search string:
11.5 Test 4: Refined Custon Search Engine string:
12. Pilot 3 - Blended Learning:
13. Social Networking features:
14. Learner feedback:
14.1 Feedback evaluation
15. WebGamez Feedback - Problems & Solutions:
16. Google vs. Google CSE:
17. Conclusions:
18. Recommendations:
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1 e-learning discovery map: Internet Technology unit
Figure 2 Ning start screen.
Figure 3 Learning environment home page
Figure 4 Ning Social Learning environment Management system
Figure 5 Mindomo Mind Map link & attachment test
Figure 6 Mindmiester Min Map link & attachment test
Figure 7 Mindmeister attachments
Figure 8 Module Map
Figure 9 Unit Map
Figure 10 e-learning Discovery Map learning activities
Figure 11 Mindmeister.com Mind Map – Google search strings
Figure 12 la5 learning activity
Figure 13 Google search result
Figure 14 Pilot 2 forums
Figure 15 Cross browser compatibility
Figure 16 Learning strategy scroll box
Figure 17 Google Custom Search Engine
Figure 18 Google custom search box
Figure 19 CSE URL on Mind Map
Figure 20 CSE within eDiscovery Map.
Figure 21 CSE used on Ning SLE frontpage.
Figure 22 eDiscovery Map
Figure 23 learning activity CSE
Figure 24 WebGamez Ning SLE
Figure 25 WebGamez e-learning Discovery Map
Figure 26 WebGamez ‘e-learning Discovery & Resource Map’
Figure 27 Collaborative tutorial map
Figure 28 Buddypoke
Figure 29 Pilot 3 Survey response
Figure 30 Ning E-mail settings
APPENDICIES:
Appendix 1: Mind map feature list – p40
Appendix 2: Site Activity - p43
Appendix 3: Pilot 2 Feedback form - p44
Appendix 4: Pilot Invitations & briefing - p45
Appendix 5: Original Teaching and Learning Strategy - p47
Appendix 6: create a private network - p48
Appendix 7: Buddypoke - p49
1. Introduction
The aim of the eTutor project is to develop degree level online learning modules without creating new learning content and delivering the modules without using a conventional Virtual Learning Environment/ Learning Management System.
The project objectivesare to:
- Apply the principles of the e-Framework to create a learning environment, usingfreely available software tools, based on user needs and specified collaboratively by learners and their on-line tutors.
- Develop quality assured modules of higher level on-line learning, in partnership with the learners, using content and resources sourced from the Internet and based on discovery learning within a social constructivist pedagogic approach.
- Pilot the modules with learners as part of a validated on-line HE programme and evaluate the experiences of both learners and tutors in a real institutional and social community context.
- Draw conclusions about the current ability to create an effective service-oriented open-source on-line learning environment and to deliver a quality assured learning experience using freely available content and resources.
Ref: Project information and reports available from: )
The purpose was to test the proposition that, as online learning developed to become a key component of learning delivery, globally and at all educational levels, learning content and resources would be freely available online to be harvested and used to support specific learning activities.
Furthermore, the project was designed to test the suggestion that, as Web 2.0 services and social networking applications became more widely available, customised online learning environments could be created using these applications without the need for a VLE/LMS.
The pedagogic approach taken was based on discovery learning where the learner was in control of the learning process, guided and supported by the tutor. The learner would be provided with a customised gateway to online learning resources that would be harvested and presented for use using search engine applications.
The learning environment design was based on the use of social networking software that was freely available and allowed a mash-up to be created of the Web services and tools needed to support the learning process. The terms: Learning community, Network, Social network are used interchangeably to represent the Social Learning Environment created using the Ning Platform in this report.
The Information and Communications Technology 1module, part of the Foundation degree for eCommerce offered by Glamorgan University, provides learners with skills in the use of desktop computer applications that will be useful to them at work, at home and as an on-line learner. The unit covers word-processing, spreadsheets, the use of the Internet and on-line communications.
Initially the eTutor team decided to undertake two Pilot studies with a team of ‘Expert Learners’, educators with experience of delivering educational programmes within the Further and Higher education sector.
PILOT 1: Desktop & Computer Applications:
Online tutor: Tony Toole.
Social Learning environment: Wetpaint
Discovery Learning method: Competency Map & Customised Google Search Engine.
Learning content: Word-processing and spreadsheets.
Feedback method: Forum
PILOT 2: Personal Computer & Internet Technology:
Online tutor: James Williams.
Social Learning environment: Ning
Discovery Learning method: Activity Map & Pre-defined Google search string.
Learning content: Personal Computer, Internet and on-line communications.
Feedback method: Forum and online questionnaire.
PILOT3: Blended Learning – Web Games:
Tutor: James Williams.
Social Learning environment: Ning
Discovery Learning method: Collaborative eTutorial Map with Custom Google Search Engine.
Learning content: Web Games design and development.
Feedback method: Forum and online questionnaire.
2. Pilot2 - Personal Computer & Internet Technology:
This eTutor pilot 2 aims to deliver the Personal Computer, Internet and on-line communication aspects of the Information and Communications Technology 1 module. For the purposes of this pilot (Pilot 2), the pilot module will be titled Personal Computer and Internet Technology.It is important to note that the word-processing and spreadsheet aspects weretrialed in Pilot 1.
This evaluation report reviews pilot 2 & 3. The module was based on an existing degree level ICT module validated by the University of Glamorgan and covered Internet Technology skills. A group of‘expert learners’ were invited to select a Subject area from the Internet Technology Unit of the module to complete as part of the pilot study. The eDiscovery learning Map illustrates these below:
Figure 1e-learning discovery map: Internet Technology unit
3. The Learning Environment
Many social networking applications now include the communication and resource presentation features required to support online learning. Social Networking sites are now starting to rival traditional Virtual learning environments.
There are many freely available Social networking options available online. The following options were considered and tested for the purposes of the eTutor project:
Social networking prototypes:
- KickApps
- pbWiki
- Ning
- Wetpaint
- BackPackit
The evaluation criteria included:
- Free
- Web 2.0 (collaborative tools)
- Forums (for social discussion)
- Blogs (for reflective learing)
- Add as friend feature (Social network)
- Coursework Submission option (Tutor wall, Blog, Submission Forum)
- Personal Page/s.
- MindMap Integration
Choice:
- Ning ( *
* Easiest to build, manage and use, more social & collaboration tools.
The application chosen for the delivery of the word processing module was Ning. Ning is an online platform for people to create their own social networks. It is a free social networking site.
Figure 2Ning start screen.
Ning competes with large social sites like MySpace and Facebook by appealing to people who want to create their own social networks around specific interests with their own visual design and choice of features. The unique feature of Ning is that anyone can create their own social network for a particular topic or need, such as an Educational network. Ning allows anyone to build a highly customizable community portal with little or no knowledge of web design. Educators around the world, Technical andimportantly Non-technical, are using Ning to develop educational resources.
The social networks running on Ning's service are developed with Open Source PHP. Ning has a very modern look and feel, with full use of modern Web 2.0 features allowing full customization of the community site. Learners have their own page and are able to change the color of many elements, such as the text, headers, background or tables to suit their own look and feel. There is alo a large variation of interactive widgets available, which are very easy to install/embed by both learner user and Tutor administrator.
Currently, Ning has both free and paid options. When someone creates a social network on Ning, it is free by default and runs ads that Ning controls. If the person creating the social network chooses, they can pay to control the ads(or lack thereof), in exchange for a monthly fee. To help educators benefit from Ning's unique social networking environment, Ning has offered to remove the ads from educational networks, although currently this mainly applies to networks geared toward students between the ages of 13 and 18 (grades 7 - 12).
The learning environment home page is shown in the figure below. The main window is divided into boxes which accommodate all the aspects of the learning environment including: · Introduction text, Events, Chat, Notes, Members, list, eDiscovery Map, Videos, Google Search, Latest Activity, Forum, Blog.
Figure 3Learning environment home page
The creation of a Ning Network only takes a few minutes,and the Management of the Social Learning Environment is also very easy. The system is ideal for educators to rapidly and easily create a Social learning environment. The Ning system provides a central ‘Manage’ page for the Network creator, this can be previewed in figure, below:
Figure 4 Ning Social Learning environment Management system
4. Mind Mapping software:
There are many mind mapping tools available online such as Mindomo and Mindmeister, these were chosen to be evaluated for this project. The comparison criteria consisted of three essential requirements: (1) Ease of use (2) Hyperlinks (3) Upload/attach learning resources (4) Multi-layered Maps.
1) Ease of use:
Although Mindomo offers a wonderful array of tools, significantly greater than Mindmeister, this was it’s downfall, as MIndmeister is significantly easier to use and offers all the essential features deemed necessary to achieve the project’s requirements.
2) Hyperlinks:
It is very easy to assign a hyperlink to a node. The user can either click on the ‘hyperlink’ icon in the main horizontal menu or alternatively utilise the Hyperlink accordion menu on the left. However using mindomo it is not possible to create a link inside a node, instead a small square link box is created at the side of the node. This feature is very useful but not user-friendly as there is nothing to indicate that it is a Hyperlink.
Figure 5 Mindomo Mind Map link & attachment test
3) Upload/attach learning resources:
Online Mindmaping software can not only be used to structure a course, or list favourite website links, organise tasks/projects, but also as a document repository to for example organise Lecture/tutorial files. This feature is available in the premium version of both MindMiester ($4 a month) and Mindomo ($6 a month).
For example, the following image displays a node with a recommended link and file attachments in Mindmiester.
Figure 6Mindmiester Min Map link & attachment test
It is very easy to add attachments to a node using MindMeister:
Figure 7Mindmeister attachments
4) Multi-layered Maps:
Mindmeister also allows you to link to multiple mind-maps, allowing the creation of multi-layered maps. This feature is very useful as a Tutor can present the user learner with increasing amounts of information regarding the learner’s interest.
For example a Course Director may decide to create a map of a course, the first map a student views would simply contain the name of the course at the center branching off to display 3 more nodes simply containing text descriptions Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3. When the user clicks one of these nodes another Map loads on the screen displaying all the modules for that degree course, again the user can click a module node and the module map will be displayed on the screen, this map administered by a module co-coordinator can contain the module specification document at center, surrounded by nodes illustrating the lesson plan (containing learning resources) for the semester or academic year. Year 1, 2 and 3 nodes can contain Assessment Schedules. This is a very easy to use, easy to create, central and interactive resource for students, and can very easily be integrated into any VLE/SLE.
In conclusion Mindmister was chosen because of it’s ease of use and ability to create Multi-layered maps.
5. Google search Engine:
It didn’t take too long researching the net to realise that the Internet community has agreed that Google is the best search engine on the Web, as it has the largest index and retrieves the most accurate results.
pandia.com argues “at the moment it is probably the best search engine in the World. The main reason is that is so good at putting the best and most relevant sites at the top of the result list. It achieves this by rating sites according to how many other sites there are that link to it. Links from popular or important sites counts more than links from smaller, unknown sites. “Ref:
6. Learning Strategy
The purpose of the pilot is to provide learners with an effective ‘Social learning environment’ geared towards the acquisition of skills in the use of the Internet and on-line communications that supports the students in achieving the learning outcomes of the module. This section presents an ‘eTutor & learning strategy’ to accomplish this.
Active Learning (Research & Learning Activities) Discovery Learning, Instructor-led and Reflective Learning are combined to offer a synthesized and innovative approach utilizing the benefits of each method.
The learning strategy is designed toinstill the ‘discovery learning’ life skill and empower the learner to learn 'How to learn' as part of a team and individually. The strategy assists learners to improve their discovery learning skills,and content discernment i.e. the ability to wisely select appropriate sources of information. Students learn how to research, to complete the learning activities and overcome problems, developing personal confidence, positive and pro-active attitude/personality. Learners are encouraged to solve problems through social collaboration and independent self-reflection before contacting the Tutor. This method builds social team-working skills and self-confidence/esteem.
The system allows the Tutor to 'easily' review student progress. The weekly blog post is a very useful feature to help the student focus and progress, personal discipline and a very useful monitoring tool for the Tutor to see who is progressing and who may require some help and/or encouragement. Also very useful for a time-constrained course to ensure students are making use of the 'Student Private Study time'.
The online Tutor is always available to support this process through forums/personal messages, providing balance between instructional and discovery learning strategies. The Learning Environment has a built-in email system and allows the learners to easily send a message to the Tutor if immediate support is required; the system sends a notification message to the Tutors personal or work email informing her/him that a message has been sent from the SLE system.
The following text is located on the front-page of the eTutor learning environment, it’s aim is to introduce online learners to the eDiscovery learning strategy.
* WELCOME * to the eDiscovery module: 'Personal Computer and Internet Technology'. This Module is divided into two Units: (1) Personal Computer Technology; & (2) Internet Technology.
LEARNING STRATEGY: Each of the Units above have been split into Subject areas. Each Subject area contains a list of learning activities. Please use the 'elearning Discovery Map' below to navigate to the tasks. Please click on the arrow icons (located on each learning activity node) to search for relevant sources of information. You are also encouraged to input your own search criteria to find appropriate information.
Learners are required to post a weekly message on your Blog 'every week' stating the progress you have made and tasks you have completed.
1) Individual Blog: Each week learners are advised to post a reflective log entry, stating key insights/problems/solutions. (Reflective learning: 10% assessment)
2) Collaborative Forum: During the process of completing each learning activity post a message in the appropriate forum documenting any insights, difficulties and solutions you feel may be helpful to the learning community. (Collaborative learning: 10% assessment)
SUBMISSION: Complete each task by creating a brief Report (using a word editor and screen-capture images) clearly describing the steps taken to complete each learning activity. When you have completed all the tasks for a Subject area (e.g. How the Internet Works) submit your work using your 'Blog' facility. It is important to reference the background sources that contributed to the creation of your work, please review the referencing guide located in the Notes section.
SOCIAL LEARNING: Use the 'forums' to meet other learners, share ideas, difficulties, insights and areas of interest. We encourage all community members to help and support each other during the learning process.
TIME MANAGEMENT: All community members are expected to define their ‘Personal Learning strategy’ on their ‘MyPage’ text areas, stating the weekly day/time that you will dedicate to the learning activities e.g. eTutor ICT learning time: Tuesday 3 - 5pm & Thursday 5 – 7pm.
TUTOR SUPPORT: Our Social Learning Environment also enables you to send a message to your Tutor or post a message on your Tutor’s wall or participate in the weekly live 'Tutor chat' Wednesday 4-5pm GMT. If you have an urgent question please send me a message via my profile page or via email .
COMMUNITY GUIDELINES:(bottom of front-page)
An online learning community is an online space for members to support each other throughout the learning process, through respectful, proactive and collaborative partnerships. Through this social network learners work as a community to achieve a shared learning objective.
Learning activities/objectives are proposed by a Tutor/instructor or may arise out of discussions between community members.
Blogs & Reflective learning:Blogs blend personal journaling with social networking to create environments with opportunities for self reflection and learning.Students are required to keep a self-reflective progress blog, documenting their personal learning strategy and progress on a weekly basis. Guided by the tutor this method ensures the most effective use of the Student study time and supports the student's professional learning and development.
Forums: The creation of too many forums cantake the learners focus away from the core subject areas of the Module. As a result community wide forums should only be created by the Tutor. However sub community Group forums can be created by learners if required.
Referencing: It is important to reference the background sources that contributed to the creation of each learning activity, please review the referencing guide located in the Notes section on the left.
Collaborative learning activities: The number one skill in demand by employers is people and team working skills. The self-reflective blog and forums not only provide a mechanism for you to asses your technical development skills but also your current ability to work effectively with others.
An online learning community is an online space for members to support each other throughout the learning process, through respectful, proactive and collaborative partnerships, learners work as a community to achieve the shared aim and learning outcomes of the module.
Posting comments:All posts should be respectful and relevant. The community is owned and created by the community. If a post is deemed offensive or inappropriate to any member it will be removed and your a/c suspended.
Disclaimer: All messages express the views of the author, and neither the module Lecturer or University will be held responsible for the content of any message.
Tutor note:Learning environment and culture is improved when the Tutor disables the users/lerners ability tro create forums. Having forums related to subject reas only, brings greater focus withi nthe ncofiment to these areas of learning. The tutor can of course create a general 'Student chat' forum to allow for expression that is not related to the subject natters, to allow for an open and social environment.
7. Module Design & Mind Mapping Software