Transcript Slide 1
To eLearn or not to eLearn? Richard Knight Laurie Barwell University of the Western Cape Martie van Deventer Jansie Niehaus Althea Adey Depart. of Science & Technology Environmentek, CSIR Problems of deploying eLearning The use of the Internet for providing training in environmental management is neither new nor novel, Most Tertiary Institutes have eLearning strategies Many eLearning solutions in the Market Place Tertiary Institutes still largely teach without using eLearning Successful and widespread deployment of true eLearning remains elusive Problems of deploying eLearning /continued Where eLearning has been deployed, it usually remains little more than electronic versions of conventional lecture notes with minimal learner interactions. What are the barriers to adopting eLearning? Initiated a one year Distance-based curriculum in Ecological Informatics at UWC in combination with various public agencies Our experience: use a more pragmatic approach to the tools deployed and variety in their implementation What is NISL-EI? National Information Society Learnership in Ecological Informatics Its an Honours-level Learnership delivered using distance-based resources and through a cooperation of University and public sector organizations. CSIR is the managing agent and UWC does curriculum certification. Information Systems Management • GIS • Remote Sensing • Open-Source tools Integrated Coastal Area Management Environmental Management Practice • • • • IEM & Tools for Sust. Dev. Conservation Planning Env. Resource Economics Policy Development Societal Issues • • • • Conservation Biology Climate Change Sustainable Livelihoods Invasion Biology At the onset a “Social Constructionist Pedagogy was deployed for NISL-EI courses” CONSTRUCTIONISM • People actively construct new knowledge as they interact with their environment • Knowledge cannot be "transmitted" by reading/listening • Learning is effective when constructing something for others to experience SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM How does one do this for Distance Learning? • Social group constructing things for one another, collaboratively creating a small culture of shared artifacts • Knowledge is progressively strengthened with exposure Selection of Learners (First round) Candidates with Degrees in the Natural Sciences All Candidates were Black and 50% were Female Identified from a register (Department of Trade and Majority had neither Biology nor the normal 60% entrance Industry) requirement All but one came from an No face to face instruction HBU (Historically Black University) Tape Interviews at CSIR (Pretoria) The identical course was also delivered to UWC full-timestudents with opportunities for face to face communication How has NISL-EI changed our Teaching? Lesson 1 Simply putting up text electronically is ineffectual. Most people will not read copious notes on a screen! Use of a “Voice Over” greatly increases learner’s attentiveness since it requires the use of a “headset” and exclusion of external stimuli. Lesson 2 Getting specialist people to contribute is easy, provided it is not open-ended Getting learners to contribute to a discussion forum and construct “knowledge” that is MEANINGFULL to the group is the challenge! Structure of a typical NISL course Assignments & Assessments Summarize ONE out of choice of research papers summarizing it as a narrated Power Point to use as additional lecture material Model a species distribution or an impact of development on an ecosystem Contribution to a Discussion Forum Multiple Choice Self Quizzes Multiple Choice Tests Lectures Divided into 12 Chapters Power Points were narrated & converted to Flash content Presentations are searchable by keyword & thumbnail Used Interactive exercises How they did? Learners vs. Students AVG 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Learners 64% Students 55% Learners did better with the more technically-related assignments such as the expert systems Overall Course Marks Students did better on the more language related assignments e.g. Discussion Forum Explaining the gap: Learners vs Students Learners were at a disadvantage due to being the first to do the course – major implication was the discussion forum Learners had better grasp of the content (see optional quiz marks) Learners language skill were the downfall Learners did use headphones for instruction and worked under supervised conditions of employment (8h00~16h15) Learners had the advantage of having done courses such as GIS first (so Computer Skills are better) 90 80 Performance in the Quiz 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 Learners 72% Students 55% 6 In their own words how did Learners respond to using Social Constructionism for the NISL-EI courses? The response by UWC students was less enthusiastic I could contribute! I would like to become an Instructional Designer! I enjoyed the Expert System What’s new for 2006 Conclusions and the future The Learnership positive start DST is to fund NISL-EI2 and the design of curriculum largely right. 10 learners to be identified The distance learners appear to have enjoyed the course more than our students Need a Learning Management System to track learner performance The honours students need a structured time-table and work in a more office-like environment Use of a Weblog rather than CMS The workplace is a good environment to advance learning and discipline