LIB 4900 – Social Informatics – Fall 2015

MLA Citation: Momani, Alaa M. “Comparison Between Two Learning Management Systems: Moodle And Blackboard.” Online Submission (2010): ERIC. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.

Research Question: What are the key differences between Moodle and Blackboard (the most famous known Learning Management System) and what makes each one special in its own way?

Methodology: The Author uses practical research to give a descriptive result organized report. He categorizes the comparison of features into six main factors which are; Pedagogical factor, Learner environment, instructor Tools, Course and Curriculum Design, Administrator Tools, Technical Specifications.

Extent to which this article takes a social informatics approach to the research study: This article and study takes a social informatics approach in the way it fully lays out the field of the ICT, in this case is Blackboard and Moodle. From there he points out in a classified manor the facts of each software and takes it further by applying the S.I. approach by looking at the factors in the eyes of a learner and an instructor. From there after reading these points and classifications we can see what’s missing from each other, what sets them apart and ultimately. only by doing this can you see the diciplinary field, uses and negatives, as well as consequences from picking just one of the two learning systems. It even looks at feedback, progress, cost and other outside factors that intertwine with the ICT in discussion.

MLA citation: Teo, Timothy. “Preservice teachers’ satisfaction with e-learning.” Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal 42.1 (2014): 3+.Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.

Research Question: How effectively the teachers can teach through a e learning system?

Methodology: The author used the usability test and question and answering process. They collected the Data and showed the effectiveness of e learning system from real the life scenario.

Extent to which this article takes a social informatics approach to the research study:

The study shows the effectiveness level of the e learning system. The Author interviewed the students who are enrolled to the e learning system and try to analyze the current e learning system. Can  the e learning  system be an alternative to our current traditional way of  teaching? So the researcher collected the usability test data and found out that ” 71.6% of the variance in satisfaction was accounted for by its antecedents and the amounts for perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, facilitating conditions, and tutor quality were 61.7%, 68.5%, 48%, and 35.2%, respectively “(Teo). The research study was done on the students of one institution.

Online multimedia learning with mobile devices and desktop computers: an experimental test of Clark’s methods-not-media-hypothesis

MLA citation: 

Sung, Eunmo, and Mayer, Richard E. “Online Multimedia Learning with Mobile Devices and Desktop Computers: An Experimental Test of Clark’s Methods-not-media Hypothesis.” Computers in Human Behavior 29.3 (2012): 639-47. Web.

This article came from Computers in human behavior, which is a peer reviewed journal that gives insight to many different experimental tests on the method of media.

Research question:

What processes differentiate desktop online multimedia learning from mobile?

Methodology:

This article uses some of the same methods of research that we have learned in class. The main methodology that i noticed was being used was the usability tests. The usability tests were a big part of this research because that seemed to be a staple that they were basing alot of there ideas off of. The usability test that they conducted consisted of administering a test on both desktop (computer) and mobile (iPad) and then compared the scores, results, and clicks between the two. I am glad that i got to see this type of methodology used in action because it is exactly the route that my group seems to be heading in.

Extent to which this article takes a social informatics approach to the research study:

This article touches upon many of the ideas from social informatics and places emphasis on the study of information from an institutional context. In Mayer’s words; “An important implication for instructional designers is that instructional design principles that improve learning in a desktop environment can apply to learning in newly emerging mobile learning environments. This study also shows that it is possible to successfully combine instructional principles to create effective lessons, whereas previous work has examined the principles in isolation” (4.3).

Mayer also stated how the study was not finished because he believed he needed to conduct more tests to find an answer with clear evidence. A lot of what he spoke about in this article had to with our educational system and the way that we arr taught to learn from an institutional stand point. I look forward to looking for more pieces relating to the same topic from this author.

Reenvisioning Teaching and Learning: Opportunities for Campus IT

MLA Citation:

Malcolm Brown. “Reenvisioning Teaching and Learning: Opportunities for Campus IT.” portal: Libraries and the Academy 14.3 (2014): 383-391.Project MUSE. Web. 3 Nov. 2015. <https://muse.jhu.edu/>.

According to the Johns Hopkins University Press, “portal: Libraries and the Academy [is] an international refereed quarterly journal, publishes articles that focus on all aspects of librarianship, knowledge management, and information services and studies within higher education. portal articles are intended for an audience that is interested in the broad role and impact of libraries within the academy.”

Research Question:

How are the roles of the chief information officer, academic technologist and campus academic technology infrastructure being transformed?

Methodology:

This journal article is does not use any of the methodology we discussed on class. Rather than employing tactics such as usability tests, interviews, etc., this article instead uses the consolidated approach. The author gathered his own research, analyzed it and interpreted it in a way that poses a solution to the research question above.

Extent to which this article takes a social informatics approach to the research study:

This article embodies the principles of social informatics, in the sense that emphasizes the importance of institutional subtext. In fact, this article is entirely about how institutional bodies within the infrastructure of higher education must be adjusted. In Brown’s words, “The ever-increasing variety of curricular resources, course models, technology, and staffing support available to instructors provide a similar opportunity to create pathways constructed out of new connections. The institution, too, has fresh opportunities to deliver a more personalized learning experience for students, constructed in part through both traditional and nontraditional partnerships” (384).

Brown is conscious of the interdisciplinary interplay that happens around ICTs. He even speaks upon the concept of disruptive innovation, stating that “We have seen disruptions occur over the past fifty years in other sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, music, journalism” (385).

Though this article does not apply directly to web portal technologies such as CUNYPortal, it builds upon this notion that infrastructural issues need to be worked out from many levels. Brown focuses in on the campus IT offices, such as the roles of the CIO and the academic technologist. He outwardly says that “the new situation for higher education is calling for a cultural change, something that is always difficult” (389). In other words, he is speaking to the truth of co-shaping.

Please remember that this Thursday (November 5) we will not meet in our usual classroom but will instead meet in a Google Hangout. We will start at 6:05 pm and end around 7:15 pm.

Please make sure that you are participating in the Google Hangout using a laptop or desktop computer. If you have technical troubles at any point, please email me at my Gmail or my Baruch email address or text me (I gave out my cell phone number on the first day of class).

In advance of the class, please be ready to share a version of your research question in this format:

We are studying __________, because we want to find out _______, so that our reader understands ____________.

The first blank (the one that follows “We are studying”) should be a narrowed topic. The second blank (after “because we want to find out” should be your research question that starts with how or why. The final blank (after “so that our reader understands”) is where you explain your motivation or the significance. This chart from Baruch’s Writing Center offers some examples of questions using this format:

Identifying a Research Question with Significance

I also expect that everyone will have done a blog post for the assignment where you have to talk about a specific journal article (details about the assignment can be found on this page of the course website).

Title:

Comparing dropouts and persistence in E-learning courses

APA Citation:

Levy, Y. (2007). Comparing Dropouts and Persistence in E-learning. Computers & Education, 48(2), 185-204

Research Question:

Why do students attending e–learning courses dropout at substantially higher rates than their counterparts in on-campus courses?

Methodology:

Several studies were conducted in regard to dropouts from on-campus and “distance” education courses. The study proposes a clear and precise definition of dropout from academic courses in the context of e–learning courses. The researchers conducted various studies in the hopes to find an answer to the question of why students drop courses. The researchers found that students attending e–learning courses dropout at substantially higher rates than their counterparts in on-campus courses. Realizing there had to be a reason or flaw in the system they began to dig deeper. The study explores two main ideas: academic focus of control; & students’ satisfaction with e–learning. Their results prove that students’ satisfaction with e–learning is a key indicator in students’ decision to dropout from e–learning courses. I found it interesting that dropout students or “non-completers” reported to have significantly lower satisfaction with e–learning than students who successfully completed “completers” the same e–learning courses. This shows that students who finshed the entire course had better things to say in regard to the technologies.

Extent to which this article takes a social informatics approach to the research study:

Given that Social informatics is the study of communication and information tools in cultural or institutional concepts, this idea directly links to the journal article that i have chosen to blog about. The author, Yair Levy, has put together multiple pieces on learning enviroments and e learning atmospheres so the information he has came up with is deffinately a reputable resource. This study deffinately applies to the social informatics methods of studying E-Learning systems.

APA CITAION: Khan, Shahadat Hossain. “A Model for Integrating ICT into Teacher Training Programs in Bangladesh Based on TPCK.” International Journal of Education and Development Using Information and Communication Technology 10.3 (2014): 21-31. Web.

Methodology: The author used Descriptive Qualitative methodology for his research.

The journal article is about ICT use in the educational sectors in developing countries like Bangladesh and why it is important for those countries to merge into a technology based education system. We are living in an age of information technology. Information technology is the most important aspect in today’s world.  We can’t really do anything without information technology. So we have to know how to operate the machines and technological aspects to keep ourselves on track in the fast paced world. There is no second choice in this regard. The developed countries like USA, Canada, UK, Australia etc. took great initiatives to train their population on ICT. The educational system on those countries are using technology based teaching and improving in a large scale.

The problem is with the developing countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal etc. All though they have started using technology based education system, they are way behind comparing to the developed countries. They have many problem, funding is one of them. If you want to merge a system to another, you have might face some difficulties. Proper funding  is one of them. Again without the technology based education, social and economic improvement is almost impossible. So basically the author focused on the importance of ICT based education system and how the developing countries can merge into an ICT based education system.

Do students prefer e-learning on a mobile application or desktop view?

Why do students prefer desktops over mobile when participating in E-learning online systems?

Research quetsion pertainig to Blackboard / Course management system

• Why Blackboard features are not fully utilized by professors / students to establish a content rich learning environment.

Levy, Y. (2007). Comparing Dropouts and Persistence in E-learning. Computers & Education, 48(2), 185-204

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