e-learning
F. Seraji; R. Malmir; H. Abbasi kasani
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Users enter social networks with different motives and their participation in social networks is also different from each other. Having different goals and motives, teachers as users of social networks choose various ways to participate in these networks. So, laying emphasis ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Users enter social networks with different motives and their participation in social networks is also different from each other. Having different goals and motives, teachers as users of social networks choose various ways to participate in these networks. So, laying emphasis on the role of motivation in the ways teachers use social networks, the present study aims at identifying teachers’ motivation and the ways they use social networks. The specific objectives of this research are: 1. determining how virtual social networks are used by teachers who are actively using them. 2. Identifying the feedback of teachers in virtual social networks. Methods: The present research is done using qualitative research approach. The field of this research includes groups and forums of Iranian teachers’ social networks. In this research, 30 teachers who were active in social networks participated among whom 14 teachers were male and 16 teachers were female. All of these participants were managers of virtual channels and Various supergroups in social networks. They were selected using the logic of purposeful sampling and criterion-based method. The selection criterion was the record or history of the group or channel, the number of the followers and the number of the visitors. Also, the teachers who were selected for the interview in addition to this criterion, were selected in the field of e- content generation in virtual social networks by the Roshd center site as an active content generator. Every interviewee mentioned their views in answer to the interview questions for 40 to 45 minutes. To analyze data, the theme analysis method was used. In this method, first the concepts and codes are extracted from the interview text and then the status of each theme from the type of inclusive, organizing, and basic is determined in the network of themes. In this research, in order to perform this process, the following steps were taken: 1. Frist, with the frequent screening and active reading of the data, the search for the meaning and discovery of patterns began by using note-taking and punctuating the data (familiarity with the data). 2. After reading the data, the codes and concepts introducing the data were established (generating basic codes). 3. The identified codes were organized and transferred to certain themes (generating themes). 4. At this stage, the themes were named and reviewed as needed 5. The network of themes were generated to identify the basic, organizing and inclusive themes and the final report of the data was set. Findings: The findings showed that teachers benefit from social networks for personal purposes such as entertainment, access to the news and communication with friends, and for occupational purposes, such as professional development and interaction with colleagues. The teachers’ motives affect how they provide feedback and how they participate in the social networks. Teachers show various feedbacks and participation in the social media which can be classified into six levels of reasonable diffusing, liking, controlling, counselling, criticizing, and commenting. Conclusion: Levels of teachers’ participation in the social networks in terms of their professional development and occupational learning is of significance from the perspective that the more the participation of the teachers in social networks can be organized by using specific projects and programs, so that they can move away from weak interactions, such as diffusing, liking, and controlling towards counselling, criticizing, and reasoning, they can be more profoundly involved with their own occupational themes in the social networks and can benefit from any time, any place, and interactive potentials of this environment for their own professional development.
Modern Educational Approaches
F. Salemian; H. Abbasi kasani; M.H. Amirtaimori
Abstract
Education is the most essential human need. Without education, no society can survive; but effective and useful education cannot be done by trial and error, it requires a plan. A review of previous research shows that little attention is paid to the issue of external cognitive load and higher-level learning, ...
Read More
Education is the most essential human need. Without education, no society can survive; but effective and useful education cannot be done by trial and error, it requires a plan. A review of previous research shows that little attention is paid to the issue of external cognitive load and higher-level learning, especially problem solving in the educational design in the country. Therefore, the present study was conducted with regard to the importance and impact of educational design patterns, especially Gagne's design pattern in the field of educational activities and its purpose was to investigate the effect of applying the Gagne's pattern on the external cognitive load and problem solving ability.Methods: With respect to purpose, this was an applied study and with respect to methodology, this was considered as a quasi-experimental study (of the type of pretest-posttest with experimental and control groups). The population of the study consisted of male high school students in West Islamabad. To conduct the research, a high school from West Islamabad was randomly selected, using multistage cluster sampling method. From among the classes of this high school, two were selected as the experimental group and the control group. Then, based on their midterm scores, 15 students from each class were randomly divided into the two control and experimental groups. The experimental group was exposed to the independent variable and the control group was trained by the conventional method. Data were collected using a scale of Pass, Van Merrienboer and Adam. Another instrument was the researcher-made problem solving skill test whose validity was determined by experts and its reliability was 0.84 using retest method. Finally, the collected data were analyzed by using independent t-test and analysis of covariance.Findings: For both groups in this study, homogeneity problem solving pre-test and post-test were performed first. After the experiment (Gagne's educational design pattern) was applied with the experimental group, the results showed the relative superiority of the experimental group in a way that the average score obtained for this group in their problem solving skill (that is, 16.533) was higher than that of the control group (that is, 13.000). Also, there was a significant difference between the average of external cognitive load in the experimental group (6.600) and the control group (3.333). The results of the study showed that in terms of the external cognitive load, there is a statistically significant difference between the two control and experimental groups (t: 6.767, p: 0.01). In addition, the findings of the study revealed that Gargano’s educational design pattern had a significant effect on the reduction of the external cognitive load in the experimental group as compared to that of the control group. The findings also showed a significant increase in the problem solving skills in the experimental group as compared to those of the control group (p: 0.05, df: 1, F: 46.234).Conclusion: Based on research findings, it can be concluded that the application of Gagne's pattern in the educational system can have a positive effect on achieving high levels of learning, and it is recommended that teachers and administrators of the educational system pay attention to this point. According to their authority on how to use different teaching methods, teachers can use the results of this research, and use this design method in preparing their lesson plans and applying it to their teaching.
Electronic learning- virtual
H. Abbasi Kasani; Gh.R. Shams
Abstract
learning processes has become an important issue in the field of education around the world. According to the announced statistics, this is spreading rapidly and widely. e-learning, as the most prominent application of ICT, has added a new dimension to the primary and higher education, and the use of ...
Read More
learning processes has become an important issue in the field of education around the world. According to the announced statistics, this is spreading rapidly and widely. e-learning, as the most prominent application of ICT, has added a new dimension to the primary and higher education, and the use of online resources has been successfully combined with education to facilitate teaching-learning activities. That is why in recent years, many organizations, universities and companies have started offering e-learning courses. e-learning is a wide range of application software and teaching methods including computer-based education, web-based education, virtual classrooms, etc. The present study aimed at investigating and identifying critical success factors of e-Learning to develop a comprehensive model for success of e-learning. Methods: The research approach was qualitative and the method was synthesis. The research population was all of the articles (85 articles) related to Critical Success Factors of e-Learning since 2007 to 2017 in accredited journals using specific keywords. The sample included 41 articles selected purposefully based on the theoretical saturation of data. The data were collected from the qualitative analysis of documents. Findings: Using analyzing data, Critical Success Factors of e-learning were classified in 3 dimensions, 8 factors and 52 indicators including structural dimension (organizational, support, system quality, content, and educational factors); behavioral dimension (learner, instructor), and environmental dimension (technology). The results of the data analysis led to the identification of Critical Success Factors of e-learning as a model. Conclusion: In this study, an attempt was made to analyze the documents and studies conducted on the key factors of e-learning success and identify the key factors of e-learning success, to provide a model for e-learning success. As the results of the analysis show, e-learning success factors include three structural dimensions (including: organizational, educational, content, support, and system quality); Content or behavioral dimension (including factors: learner and teacher); and the contextual or environmental dimension (including factor: technology). With a clear view, it can be said that examining and considering all the factors of e-learning success is necessary for its growth and development. Most of the studies have emphasized the importance of structural dimension in e-learning success, although behavioral and contextual dimensions are also essential for e-learning success. Therefore, e-learning centers should also try to identify the factors that may affect their success and, given these factors, ensure the success of e-learning. The findings of this study to some extent is capable of informing them of these factors.
