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> EIPT 6423 : Web-Based Instruction
- Authentic Activity / Authentic
Assessment
An authentic activity is an activity, which is truly
applicable as it deals with real life situations and
thus helps students to become engage as they see the
value of the subject material (Woolfolk, 1998).
An activity that is real for students. These activities
are meaningful for students and relate to their lives.
Authentic activities can be real experience or simulate
real experience. It can also be activities that would
be done in an authentic (outside of class) situation.
An example would be teaching kids math by using money
and changes. If I had $1.00 and spent $0.50, how much
would I have left?
Activities that focus on active learning in real-world
contexts and require higher-order thinking. Students
engage in production, not activities that are remote
from the actual learning of the concept.
Authentic assessment attempts to determine how well
as student can use knowledge, rather than simply memorize
facts. It emphasizes higher level thinking skills
and is performance based. Examples include portfolios,
presentations, journals, and projects.
Evaluation that addresses what was learned and the
process through which it was learned in a method similar
to the practice activities, provides information about
the particular tasks at which students succeed or
fail, and evaluates tasks that are worthwhile, significant,
and meaningful (Wiggins, 1990).
- Community of Learners (COL)
A collection or group of people who share in the process
of learning and understanding.
A setting that encourages the potential of all learners,
and nurtures each student's uniqueness. The community
shares a common purpose in continous improvement and
lifelong learning. Having a connection with learners
and teachers is essential in this community, and purposely
building this connection is necessary.
- Computer Mediated Communication
(CMC)
Computer-Mediated Communication is a process of human
communication via computers, involving people, situated
in particular contexts, engaging in processes to shape
media for a variety of purposes. (December, 1997)
http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1997/jan/december.html
C omputer-mediated communication refers to both task-related
and interpersonal communication conducted by computer.
This includes communication both to and through a
personal or a mainframe computer, and is generally
understood to include asynchronous communication via
email or through use of an electronic bulletin board;
synchronous communication such as "chatting"
or through the use of group software; and information
manipulation, retrieval and storage through computers
and electronic databases (Ferris, 1997). http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1997/jan/ferris.html
- Critical Thinking
"Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive
skills or strategies that increase the probability
of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking
that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed - the
kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating
inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions
when the thinker is using skills that are thoughtful
and effective for the particular context and type
of thinking task. Critical thinking also involves
evaluating the thinking process - the reasoning that
went into the conclusion we've arrived at the kinds
of factors considered in making a decision. Critical
thinking is sometimes called directed thinking because
it focuses on a desired outcome " (Halpern, 1996).
"The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore,
to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and
solve problems. Since all three areas involve the
asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking
is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we
seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve." (Maiorana,
1992)
Attributes of a critical thinker:
- asks pertinent questions
- assesses statements and arguments
- is able to admit a lack of understanding or information
- has a sense of curiosity
- is interested in finding new solutions
- is able to clearly define a set of criteria for
analyzing ideas
- is willing to examine beliefs, assumptions, and
opinions and weigh them against facts
- listens carefully to others and is able to give
feedback
- sees that critical thinking is a lifelong process
of self-assessment
- suspends judgment until all facts have been gathered
and considered
- looks for evidence to support assumption and beliefs
- is able to adjust opinions when new facts are found
- looks for proof
- examines problems closely
- is able to reject information that is incorrect
or irrelevant (Ferrett, 1997)
http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/longview/ctac/definitions.htm
- Distance Education
Distance education is defined, for the purposes of
accreditation review, as a formal educationalprocess
in which the majority of the instruction occurs when
student and instructor are not in thesame place. Instruction
may be synchronous or asynchronous. Distance education
may employ correspondence study, or audio, video,
or computer technologies (Commission of colleges,
1997). http://www.sacscoc.org/pdf/distance.pdf
The California Distance Learning Project (CDLP) defines
distance Learning (DL) as an instructional delivery
system that connects learners with educational resources.
DL provides educational access to learners not enrolled
in educational institutions and can augment the learning
opportunities of current students. The implementation
of DL is a process that uses available resources and
will evolve to incorporate emerging technologies.
http://www.cdlponline.org/dlinfo/cdlp1/distance/Introduction.htm
- Distributed Intelligence
The idea that, in living systems, knowledge distributed
across a system organizes itself into a whole greater
than the sum of its parts. Such intelligence is said
to exceen the grasp of any individual constituent.
Distributes intelligence focuses on the social nature
of learning and the shared meaning created within
the learning group.
- HyperText / HyperMedia
Hypermedia (hyperlink): An icon, image, or specially
marked text located on a World Wide Web page that
summons new information to the screen when the user
selects it.
- Instructional Strategy
Refers to the method of instruction selected to maximize
student learning. The best instructional technique
is determined by the objective(s) to be learned. There
are many choices available to the educator. For example,
class lecture (i.e., one-way communication), interactive
lecture (i.e., tendency toward more two-way exchange
of information), laboratory assignments, poster displays,
multimedia presentations, printed materials (e.g.,
handouts, books, journals), small group sessions (e.g.,
discussion, problem-solving, problem-based learning),
consultations (e.g., friends, family), and projects
- Interaction / Interactivity
Interaction: In this category, we include
development of on-line activities for the learners.
This could include answering questions of different
types, manipulating simulated objects, assembling
products, and playing games. Typically, planning and
implementing these activities is more time-consuming
than simpler presentation screens and, consequently,
deserves special attention in the budgeting process.
Estimate the development time of such activities and
distribute the time among the available developers.
Interactivity: One of the potentially most
beneficial aspects of multimedia learning is its ability
to engage learners in meaningful activities through
various forms of interactivity. These include making
choices and decisions, composing, taking notes, making
evaluations and judgments, constructing, drawing,
and controlling. A variety of interaction types should
be sought. Consider every interaction in a program
and whether it is important, whether it is relevant
to the objectives, and activities. Whenever possible
interactivity should promote deeper processing of
the information being learned.
- Learner Centered Design
Learner centered design is defined as a design process
where the primary use of the artifact generated during
the design process is for learning, rather than performance.
The best examples of learner centered designs will
be anchored in a theory of learning, that is an understanding
ofwho the targeted learners are and what their needs
are. (Hsi, 2003) http://www.chi2003.org/docs/t15.pdf
- Metacognition
Metacognition is often simply defined as "thinking
about thinking." It refers to higher order thinking
which involves active control over the cognitive processes
engaged in learning. Activities such as planning how
to approach a given learning task, monitoring comprehension,
and evaluating progress toward the completion of a
task are metacognitive in nature
- Multiple Perspectives
Seeing and hearing things in more than one perspective.
Multiple perspectives is a broad term to encompass
multiple and possibly heterogeneous viewpoints, representations,
and roles, that can be both collaborative and non-collaborative
context.
- Scaffolds / Scaffolding
According to Smith & Ragan, scaffolding is "the
cognitive processing support that the instruction
provides the learners, allowing them to learn complex
ideas that would be beyond their grasp if they depended
solely on their own cognitive resources, selectively
aiding the learners where needed".
- Self Regulated Learning
According to Corno and Mandinach, Self-regulated learning
is an "effort to deepen and manipulate the associative
network in a particular area (which is not necessarily
limited to academic content), and to monitor and improve
that deepening process" (1983).
When students are self-regulated learners, they set
higher academic goals for themselves, learn more effectively,
and achieve at higher levels in the classroom.
Self-regulated learning includes the following elements:
- Self-Motivation
- Goal setting
- Planning
- Attention control
- Application of learning strategies
- Self-monitoring
- Self-evaluation
- Transactional Distance
Distance learning as an online transaction: “…interplay
between people who are teachers and learners, in environments
that have the special characteristics of being separate
from one another, and a consequent set of special
teaching and learning behaviors. It is the physical
distance that leads to a communications gap, a psychological
space of potential misunderstanding between the behaviors
of instructors and those of the learners, and this
is the transactional distance” (Moore, 1996,
p. 200).
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