Methods and Technologies for Learning

For more then a decade the rapid growth of ICT and its use in education have generated a lot of changes in traditional educational structures as well as interest in defining new models for designing advanced learning solutions. This book provides an overview of international perspectives regarding the latest innovations and results in different fields of education. In particular, it is addressed to all those who are interested in exploring methodologies and extending their knowledge of current research in education and training technologies. The wide variety of contributions provides an interesting and useful account of some of the major issues and controversies facing researchers, academicians, professors, educational scientists and technologists in most of the educational contexts in which ICT is applied.Over 90 papers are featured and these are divided under headings including: Online Education and Training; Innovative Teaching and Learning Technologies; Collaborative Learning Environments; Navigation Strategies and Comprehension; Mobile Learning; Quality Issues of Distance Learning Processes; Knowledge Management and E-learning; Learning Technologies for Primary and Secondary Schools; Educational System for People with Special Needs.

Table of Contents:
Section 1: Online education and training; Effective e-learning communities; Principles of online pedagogical effectiveness: the application of a Web based instructional model; Preparing academic staff for e-Learning in the university environment: a case study of elite staff and academic staff stakeholder perspectives; Online education in globalisation processes with focus on developing Countries; Guidelines for learner-instructor interaction in an online learning environment: comparison of perspectives from either side of the line; Closing the gap between pedagogical theory and online instructional design: a bridge too far?; Constructivist distance learning environments for adults; Social structures for online learning: a design perspective; Video streaming over the Internet to support learning: the LODE system; Analysing SRL in an online collaborative environment: a case study in teacher education; Swiss blended-learning experiences in a Contextual Engineering Perspective; Preliminary ideas to provide Intelligent Tutoring Systems with abilities to deal with ill structured problems; An alternative paradigm for online learning: using the science of learning to create dynamic online instruction; E-learning vs IS education and research: the LUISS University experience; Section 2: Innovative teaching and learning technologies; Enhancing professionalism through electronic portfolios: a pre-service teacher education initiative; Enhancing student learning: a multimedia case study; Capturing them in the Web: the use of online surveys and the examination of response patterns for first year university students; Content production for the T learning environment; Design of an independent European knowledgebase for deployment of visual communication into distance learning; Interactive learning project for business development; Using robotic appliances to stimulate learning; Precision Teaching as a scientific tool to obtain motivation, learning and resistance to extinction in e-learning: historical and methodological issues and applied researches in large railway companies in Italy; Current practice of Precision Teaching in the workplace; Automatic pedagogical evaluation tool; Monitoring the knowledge acquisition level in distance learning Education; An e-teaching experiences repository: ongoing design; Modelling dynamic systems: examples involving an iconic oriented Environment; Object based modelling environments applied to science education; An overview of Initial Teacher Education and Continuing Professional Development pertaining to ICT in Education across Europe; Section 3: Collaborative learning environments; A model for collaboration: new methods for integrating technology into the elementary media arts and studies curriculum; Designing Web-based collaborative learning; Individual and collaborative construction of causal concept maps: an online technique for learning and assessment; Game playing on the Internet: communication, feedback and control; Mediation in an asynchronous computer-mediated communication environment: a non native ESL teacher's perspective; Copernicus System: beyond e-learning, an approach to the integration of learning technologies in vocational teaching and learning, a case study; Trust: the basis of the collaborative interaction. Implications for online course design; Learning research methods via experience sharing; Implementation and evaluation of an advanced tool for the annotation of authentic audio resources in second language instruction; A collaborative 3D environment for distance learning; Elements of complexity: reflections on interface design in asynchronous discussion forums; Enhancing metacognitive skills using a Web based Cooperative Learning Environment; Tutor-Sky: a web environment for multimedia on-line education; A case study on the use of Virtual Graffiti Portal (VGP) as an agent for e-learning; Section 4: Navigation strategies and comprehension; The pupil's pupils; Automated course configuration based on automated planning: framework and first experiments; Planning and assessing navigation in model centered learning environments. Why learners often do not follow the path laid out for them; Spatial memory in hypertext information retrieval; Section 5: Mobile learning; Prepare for a bilingualism exam with a PDA in your hands; Mobile Lessons and GPSWeb: mobile classrooms with georeferenced information; A mobile information system for exhibitions and museums; Mobile learning: reaching hard-to-reach learners and bridging the digital divide; Section 6: Quality issues of distance learning processes; Using the InterTest multiple-choice web-based software in automating the English Placement Test at Intercollege; Virtual classroom and virtual community: similarities and differences. Elements for designing an e-learning environment which improves acquisition and sociality; Vocational training, teaching training and distance learning: taking stock of a Swiss national project for developing teaching and learning with ICTs; Addressing testing objectives for e-learning; A model of content development and delivery in e-learning Environments; Economic evaluation of e-learning projects: pedagogic-economic perspective for a model of analysis of costs and of the relations between costs and learning effectiveness; The Symptoms Assessment Procedure to assess the quality of distance learning;; Section 7: Knowledge management and e-learning; Ontology-based adaptive content navigation; Integration of a Course Management System with Interactive Educational Multimedia; Using knowledge management method for e-learning; Making e-learning better through machine learning; LSA for intuitive chat-agents tutoring system; Section 8: Learning technologies for primary and secondary schools; LON-CAPA physics research project: multiple tries to solve problems; IT: a means to adapt the most popular classical fairy tales in Greece and Cyprus; Web based second language and ICT teacher training; Individual differences of science teachers' professional growth in theme-based inquiry teaching via TINS; The educational use of the Internet in primary schools of the Vila Real District - 2002-2004; Metacognition, visualization and the processes of reading and writing; An integrated methodology to create innovative educational software aiming at pupils' conceptual change; Learning technologies for the teaching of religion in the secondary schools of Greece: an example; Developing co-operation between universities and upper secondary education - a model for integration of academic information processing science studies to upper secondary education by using ICT; A Semantic Web resource navigator for competence based learning; Cognitive and graphical architecture of multimedia activities for infancy: from software design to the analysis of the effectiveness; COME IN: Children On-line in Multimedia Environments and Intercultural Networks; Improving activity and motivation of students with innovative teaching and learning technologies; A multimedial environment to train mathematical problem solving; Section 9: Educational system for people with special needs; Robotics: a new tool for education of subjects with cognitive Diseases; A research method to study the behavior of pupils with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms working on the Computer; Online distance education and visual disability; Section 10: Posters; The analysis of Web-based instruction from practitioners' viewpoints; The potentialities of using SCORM in mobile learning; Hypertext and didactic software for scholastic integration; Cognitive factors related to text comprehension with hypertext Overviews; E-learning for all. Accessibility of online courses; Building a learning community in a science museum for exploring emerging science and innovation: a case study; Factors affecting ESL teachers using ICT in their classrooms; Productive engagement through lurking in online class discussion; The benefits of ICT technology, e- and blended learning on modern foreign language learning at the University of Barcelona, Spain, 2004; Assessment of the knowledge state of physics students: ToL as an evaluation tool in the Engineering Faculty of Palermo University; Evaluation grid for language learning web sites; Exploring the possibility of the development of on-line courses for part-time mature students in Cyprus Higher Education; The ENSEL project