Abstract: Open online distance learning in higher education has quickly gained popularity, expanded, and evolved, with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as the most recent development. New web technologies allow for scalable ways to deliver video lect ure content, implement social forums and track student progress in MOOCs. However, we remain limited in our ability to assess complex and open‑ended student assignments. In this paper, we present a study on various forms of assessment and their relationsh ip with the final exam score. In general, the reliability of both the self‑assessments and the peer assessments was high. Based on low correlations with final exam grades as well as with other assessment forms, we conclude that self‑assessments might not be a valid way to assess students performance in MOOCs. Yet the weekly quizzes and peer assessment significantly explained differences in students final exam scores, with one of the weekly quizzes as the strongest explanatory variable. We suggest that both self‑assessment and peer assessment would better be used as assessment for learning instead of assessment of learning. Future research on MOOCs implies a reconceptualization of education variables, including the role of assessment of students achiev ements. 

Abstract: Online and blended learning have become common educational strategy in higher education. Lecturers have to re‑theorise certain basic concerns of teaching, learning and assessment in non‑traditional environments. These concerns include perception s such as cogency and trustworthiness of assessment in online environments in relation to serving the intended purposes, as well as understanding how formative assessment operates within online learning environment. Of importance also is the issue of how formative assessment benefits both the student learning and teaching within pedagogical strategies in an online context. This papers concern is how online formative assessment provides teaching and learning as well as how lecturers and students benefit f rom it. A mixed method questionnaire on formative assessment with a main focus on how formative assessment within online contexts operates was used to collect data from courses using Blackboard. Lecturers and students at a comprehensive university were th e population. Various techniques for formative assessment linked with online tools such as discussion forums and objective tests were used. The benefits that were famous comprise improvement of student commitment, faster feedback, enhanced flexibility aro und time and place of taking the assessment task and importance in the procedure for students and lecturers also benefited with less marking time and saved on administrative costs. The crucial findings are that effective online formative assessment can nu rture a student and assessment centred focus through formative feedback and enrich student commitment with valued learning experiences. Ongoing trustworthy assessment tasks and interactive formative feedback were identified as significant features that wi ll deal with intimidations to rationality and trustworthiness within the milieu of online formative assessment. 

Abstract: This paper is intended to adds to the emerging dialogue on best practices in teacher education for preparing future teachers to use technology to promote grounded theory‑based practices in their classrooms. In it, I report on an evolving model f or such training that resulted from a a longitudinal case study examiningning how changes to teacher trainees identities, learning and teaching practices changed when they are exposed to the use of a variety of social networking technologies for languag e learning in the context of their teacher preparation program in a private university in Chile. . The 12‑month classroom‑based case study was conducted at a private university in Chile, using a variety of ethnographic tools .… observation, interviews, an d online conversation analysis. I investigated how the integration of certain ICTstechnology into their content courses, as opposed to more traditional stand‑alone courses on technology use, mattered both in terms of the way the participants. The approach to technology used mattered both in terms of making a difference in the ways that these pre‑service teachers viewed themselves as learners and as future teachers of language, as well as of their evolving perspectives on the use of technology for learning and teaching. My aim in conducting the study was twofold: 1) to determine was twofold. First, I examined whether innovative technology‑ infused (TI) courses would serve to enable the beginning teacher participants to shed their traditional, passive, rather narrow cultural mindset as individuals and learners that are contrary to the identities of effective, 21st century teachers; and 2). Secondly, I sought to determine to see whether opportunities for these individuals to use a variety of innovative technologies for their own learning would have an influence on the pedagogies these individualsy themselves employed in their teaching practices. Would technology‑infused courses lead to teaching with technology? While the longitudinal study provided enc ouraging signs on both accounts within the teacher preparation program, questions remained about whether the model would be supported where it mattered … in real classroom teaching. In this article, I report on follow‑up acknowledging the challenges wit hin classroom‑based research and the complexities involved in social science‑based qualitative and numbers‑based findings that suggest that, generally, the positive changes were not sustained. These findings provide strong support for the need for teacher education models to be tested in real practice. Importantly, they also uncover the essential ingredient for promoting future teachers uptake of effective use of ICTs … collective support from the Teacher Education stakeholder community research para digms in drawing generalizable conclusions, the data analysis clearly confirms that there were encouraging signs for both aims for this particular group of pre‑service teachers. This study should be of interest to all stakeholders in education, most espe cially those whose responsibility it is and who may struggle with practical strategies to ensure that pre‑service teachers have the identities, skills and tools necessary for providing quality 21st century education programs.  

Abstract: A range of issues have emerged through the design of a MOOC project known as Gateway MBA. The Gateway MBA Project aims to extend the MBA Programme at Northampton Business School and this MOOC has a number of intentions. From a pedagogical pers pective the MOOC was created to give the student insight into the demands of postgraduate study while introducing a core area of the MBA, Critical Issues in Business. Evidence suggests that MOOCs are being used as a strategic tool to explore alternative models of course delivery (Allen & Seaman, 2013) and in this instance the MOOC aims to increase recruitment to the MBA internationally and to raise the profile of the university. While there are risks in this strategy, the Gateway project team see a po tential to introduce and market the MBA to a global audience through open online learning, raising the university brand profile and expanding the eLearning horizons of those involved in the project and beyond. This paper will consider recurring themes in the literature in the context of the design and delivery of the Gateway MBA. It is clear that reconciling MOOC values and aims with educational quality and learner satisfaction standards is problematic so this paper considers how we developed and embed i nnovations in the areas of technology and academic cultural practices in order to meet this challenge. Finally we will consider the issues and challenges in the design and delivery of a MOOC and will offer future considerations for sustainability.Evidence suggests that MOOCs are being used as a strategic tool to explore alternative models of course delivery (Allen & Seaman, 2013) and this paper shares insight into an example of such innovation for Business School Education. Gateway MBA draws on examples of open learning worldwide to create a MOOC to extend the MBA distance learning programme for Northampton Business School. The Gateway MOOC offers open online access to MBA education to develop recruitment to the MBA internationally and to raise the pro file of the university. While there are risks 

Abstract: In this study Higher Education teachers were offered new mobile devices with very few conditions attached. The aim was to introduce staff to mobile technology and how it could be used to support teaching and learning within a small, interdiscipl inary campus. The study hypothesized that by offering staff the simple incentive of new mobile devices for professional and private use, they will be keener to adopt new practices. The only conditions required were the adoption of two items of software … SharePoint as a file repository, and the VLE providers mobile learning application which provides access to the VLE for both learners and staff. There were three stages to the project; Stage 1 involved presenting staff the results of student feedback fro m their own courses, where the students set out their preferences for using learning technologies. Stage 2 involved surveying staff opinions on the impact of the mobile devices once they were issued. Stage 3 followed up with a selection of interviews, foc ussing on concepts of interest gained from the questionnaires. Overall results from this study suggested there was an undeniable enthusiasm amongst teaching staff for using mobile technology, however there were still issues surrounding digital confidence and the pedagogical reasoning for integrating such technologies. There is still a divide on the role of mobile technologies within the classroom, most likely stemmed from the lack of knowledge surrounding their potential purpose. In conclusion, staff enth usiasm alone is not enough to result in adoption and integration of mobile technology within teaching and learning, there must be a focus on pedagogy and relevance for teaching staff to engage fully.  

Abstract: Electronic testing has become a regular part of online courses. Most learning management systems offer a wide range of tools that can be used in electronic tests. With respect to time demands, the most efficient tools are those that allow automa tic assessment. The presented paper focuses on one of these tools: matching questions in which one question can be paired with multiple response terms. The aim of the paper is to identify how the types of questions used in a test can affect student result s on such tests expressed as test scores. The authors focus mainly on the issue of the possible increase in scores that can occur with the use of closed questions, when students, after selecting the answers to the questions they know the correct answers t o, then guess the answers to the remaining questions (see Diamond and Evans, 1973, Ebel and Frisbie, 1986, Albanese, 1986). The authors show how the number of distractors (unused answers) included in a question influences the overall test score. The d ata on multiple‑choice and alternative‑ response tests are well‑known. But not much is known about matching questions. Estimating formula scores for matching‑question tests is important for determining the threshold at which students demonstrate they poss ess the required level of knowledge. Here the authors will compare the scores obtained for three types of closed questions: multiple choice, alternative response and matching questions. The analysis of matching assignments in this paper demonstrates that they are a useful tool for testing skills. However, this holds only if the assignment has at least two distractors. Then the informational value of this type of assignment is higher than that of multiple‑choice assignments with three distractors. The resu lts currently indicate that these types of assignment are not useful if the objective of the testing is to rank students or to distinguish between very good students … and this applies even if two distractors are used. In the case of such an objective, it is better to use multiple‑choice assignments. 

Abstract A structured search of library databases revealed that research examining the effectiveness of e‑Learning has heavily increased within the last five years. After taking a closer look at the search results, the authors discovered that previous res earchers defined and investigated effectiveness in multiple ways. At the same time, learning and development professionals within public and private organisations are increasingly being asked to prove the effectiveness of their learning and development in itiatives. This paper investigates the effectiveness of e‑Learning through an integrative review, which ). The paper answers the following research questions: How is the effectiveness of e‑Learning defined? How is the effectiveness of e‑Learning measured ? What makes e‑Learning solutions effective? The authors discovered 19 distinct ways to define effectiveness, the most common of which is â learning outcome⠒, appearing in 41 % of the articles examined in the literature review. Moreover, the most commo n way to measure effectiveness is quantitatively with pre‑ and post‑tests. This paper includes an empirical study of an e‑Learning solution for science teachers (K⠍12) which serves as a valuable addition to the findings of the literature study. The st udy suggests that it is difficult to use e‑Learning to improve teaching performance, as participating teachers can apply several strategies to avoid substantially changing their work‑related practices. Furthermore, the study shows that only using the fulf ilment of pre‑defined learning objectives as an effectiveness parameter does not allow developers and researchers to see unexpected and unintended changes in practice that occur as a result of the e‑Learning program. Finally, the research provides insight into the validity of self‑assessments, suggesting that participants are able to successfully report their own practices, provided certain qualitative survey approaches are used. In this paper, a model for understanding the relationships of the key factor s that influence effectiveness is developed. Th 

Abstract: The present paper is based on two empirical research studies. The Netbook 1:1 project (2009⠍2012), funded by the municipality of Gentofte and Microsoft Denmark, is complete, while Students⠒ digital production and students as learning desig ners (2013⠍2015), funded by the Danish Ministry of Education, is ongoing. Both projects concern primary and lower secondary school and focus on learning design frameworks that involve students⠒ agency and participation regarding digital production i n different subjects and cross‑disciplinary projects. Within these teacher‑designed frameworks, the students perform as learning designers of learning objects aimed at other students. Netbook 1:1 has shown that digital and multimodal production especially facilitates student‑learning processes and qualifies student‑learning results when executed within a teacher‑designed framework, which provides space for and empowers students⠒ agency as learning designers. Moreover, the positive impact increases when students as learning designers participate in formative evaluation practices. Traditionally, the Danish school has worked hard to teach students to verbalise their own academic competencies. However, as our everyday environment becomes increasingly comple x with digital and multimodal technologies, formative evaluation as a learning practice becomes central, requiring the students to develop a digital and multimodal literacy beyond the traditional, language‑centred type. In order to clarify these practices , we address the various understandings of evaluation and assessment that may blur our arguments. Students⠒ digital production and students as learning designers is a large‑scale project that follows up on the findings of Netbook 1:1. It experiments fur ther with various evaluation practices in a digitalised learning environment that focuses on different phases of the learning processes and includes feed‑forward and feedback processes. Evaluation as a learning practice in a digitalised learning context f ocuses on students as actors, addressing their s 

Abstract : Social networking sites (SNSs) have become a major form of communication in todays day and age whereby language use has been impacted in various areas especially in that of learning and teaching. Young users use literally half their week eng aging in SNSs communication, thereby giving rise to a brand of internet slang which is entirely their own. This youth‑speak has gone on to influence other areas of language usage. The questions asked in the survey increased the identification of the lingu istic features such as the frequency of code switching and erratic spelling and leet, thus expanding the research base. The survey participants, the majority of who are from the Chinese ethnic group had experienced mother tongue interference in their Engl ish Language proficiency. The descriptive statistical method was used to analyse the questionnaires, wherein the data collected indicated a rather excessive usage of short messaging texts by almost all respondents owning a mobile device. To authenticate t he research findings, an analysis of the text discourses was found to be necessary. The findings proved that the frequent use of short messaging had not majorly affected the English language proficiency of the participants. In academic writing there was a conscious effort to stay clear of SNSs language. The mushrooming SNSs has helped create a whole young generation who have their own meta‑language, which provides an opportunity to probe to what extent the English language is altered. This research shoul d kick‑start research on how the English language in these areas is used and whether the frequent use of it can develop or weaken proficiency in the language. The results of the present study will definitely enrich the corpus of work conducted on the infl uence of language of social media and encourage further detailed research in this area.