Handbook on Information Technologies for Education and Training

This chapter gives an overview of the general topic of this handbook: Technologies and their applications for education and training. Technologies can be classified in many different ways, and described with many different labels, often varying between country to country or author to author. Categorizations will be introduced in this chapter as an overview of technology-related terminology relevant for this Handbook. However the Handbook is not about technologies in themselves, but as applied in learning-related contexts. Thus this opening chapter also gives an overview of three learning-related perspectives on technology: Micro, meso, and macro. Micro relates to issues directly related to a particular technology product itself, such as its design, its user interface, and its available functionalities, and the design processes used to develop the product. Meso relates to the learning context in which the technology product is put into practice. Macro involves broader issues relating to technology application in education and training, such as the effect on the organization. The chapter concludes with a comment on convergence as the defining characteristic of both technology types and technology perspectives in the near future.

Less than ten years since its release, the World Wide Web has become a prominent new space for people to communicate, work, trade, or spend leisure time. And increasingly, too, a place to learn. Aware of the potential of the WWW for education, an increasing number of educational agents (e.g., schools, community centers, special interest groups, organizations, homes), enter on a daily basis the community of producers and users of Web-based learning materials or Web-based learning environments (WBLE). In this chapter we present an overview of the development, actual state, and emerging trends in the implementation of the WWW in education. First a succinct historical account is presented, then a series of main educational functions and implementation models are reviewed, followed by a survey of current research on Web-based learning, and finally a series of novel trends emerging from the actual practice in the field are outlined.

One of the biggest potentials of the information and telecommunications technologies is their ability to furnish the technological infrastructure of computer-mediated communication to enable group and collaborative learning. One such notion is learning on online communities. This chapter discusses the role of information and telecommunications technologies in enabling online communities for learning. These include Emails, newsgroups, annotations, chat groups, MUDs (Multiuser Dungeon, Dimension, or Domain) and MOOS (MUD built using object-oriented technology), WOOS (Web-based MOO), and 3D virtual spaces.

In this chapter, an overview of courseware delivery and management systems is presented. After a brief introduction and background information about historical, mainframe CMI (computer-managed instruction) systems, the chapter concentrates on Web-based tools. In particular, advantages and disadvantages of course management systems (such as WebCT and Courselnfo) and learning management systems (such as Ingenium and Docent Enterprise) are provided.

Computer and communication technologies are having a significant impact upon the way in which educational infrastructures are designed and used to support teaching and learning processes. The rapid developments that are now taking place require the use of sophisticated authoring tools to facilitate resource production and course management. This chapter outlines some of the developments that have taken place in authoring tool technology and illustrates their use for the creation of online course delivery and course management systems based on the use of Intranets and the World Wide Web.

Intelligence and adaptation have been very important factors in designing learning systems. While the research in the field has yielded much useful information, a lot more remains to be done. We suggest that adopting a granular structure reduces some of the complexity and consideration of the teacher as an environmental context of the system is crucial for its success. The discussion is based on our experience of designing and implementing such a system and the feedback from a comparative independent study.

During the past decade, performance-support systems have evolved from little more than passive online help systems, intended for use by individuals struggling to use computer software, to powerful knowledge management systems that link and integrate knowledge for effective performance across entire organizations. This chapter provides a description of the development and present status of performance-support systems in the form of online help systems, electronic performance-support systems (EPSS), and knowledge management (KM) systems. The chapter concludes with predictions about the future of performance-support in the first decade of the 21st Century as well as recommendations for a research and development agenda aimed at enhancing performance-support systems.

Educational software on the World Wide Web can benefit from 3D content. We look at appropriate 3D technologies and give examples of existing 3D learning content on the WWW for different disciplines including pre-school education, optics, biology, and foreign languages. Finally, we discuss the future of such content and its impact on the role of the teacher.

Presentation recording (in the University context) is a means of capturing the classroom experience and making the live experience available for off-line use. In this chapter we discuss the various possibilities of using such systems for presentation recording. We develop a framework to assess the existing systems and review more than a dozen systems. The assessment is based on a set of fundamental requirements which an ideal system should fulfill. In particular, we describe the Authoring on the Fly system developed and used at the University of Freiburg over the last years which fulfills all the derived guidelines for system development.

This chapter assesses the role of video in the learning experience and the means of distributing it. We then assess the impact that the development of interactive TV and personalized TV will have on the development of networked learning services to the home. Second, comparisons are made with similar developments on the Internet such as streaming video and access through the use of ADSL technologies. Third, we look at the convergence of these technologies and also highlight trends in learning resource provision.

Stimulated by the growth of multimedia, the World Wide Web, and the convergence of communication and information technologies, the nature and potential of digital learning materials are rapidly changing. Design and development methods have to adapt to the new situation. In this chapter an overview of traditional design and development methodologies used for the realization of digital learning material is given, as well as problems and issues associated with their application. From these problems and issues a new direction for design and development is advocated, based on context responsiveness. An example of such an approach, called the 3-Space Design Strategy, is described.

This chapter discusses development methodologies from a variety of perspectives and argues for the value of a methodology that separates the content from the engine that drives the educational media under development. By taking the content out of the programming environment, shortened development cycles occur and sustainable, versionable, and reusable educational multimedia is more likely to be the result.

In this chapter the complex issue of pedagogical design for information and communication technologies is tackled from several perspectives. This multifacetted approach is in line with the evolution of pedagogical design and it undoubtedly leads towards a deeper understanding of this field of research and practice. The focus of design is on the micro-level: input (instructional agents and learners as the main actors) interaction with the environment (school, social settings, virtual classroom), and output (learning product).

Instructional technologies have moved from passive media-based resources to interactive applications of information and communication technologies. In this chapter, strategies for the design of new learning settings and learning activities are suggested. We introduce concepts and examples for learning activities, learning resources, and learning supports. The tools presented support teachers and learners in different settings, leading to powerful learning gains.

User-interface design is a central issue for the usability of a software product. In this chapter, general requirements referring to the international software ergonomics standardization and specific design features for the user interface of learning systems are presented. Orientation and feedback for the learner are the most relevant issues of interface design of learning systems. Information presentation methods appropriate for learning are proposed. Contextualization of learner support by individualized interfaces, by active and situated learning means, and contextual online help are proposed. Reflection during and after the design and development of an interface are recommended.

Virtual universities and workplace virtual institutes are seen, more and more, as a solution to the huge education demand of the knowledge society. I will limit my subject here to the design of Virtual Learning Centers, seen as the pedagogical heart of a virtual educational institution. This is where courses or learning events are designed, constructed, and delivered using the Internet and its many communication possibilities.Many models are available for these learning events. High-tech classrooms, distributed classrooms, multimedia individual instruction, online teaching, communities of practice and performance support systems, are now available delivery models. They can be integrated in the same course or in different courses in a flexible, open and interoperable way within a training organization. We will compare the main features of these models and present a computer-based architecture that can support them in an integrated way.The choice of a certain combination of delivery models is determined by decisions based on instructional models and strategies. Such strategies have major consequences on the selection of resources for information processing, collaboration, assistance, and management of the learning activities. We will present here a general strategy and some aspects of a method for the instructional engineering of distributed learning system.

This report examines mainstream educational metadata schemas available for electronic educational resource discovery on the Internet. The IEEE Learning Object Metadata, the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, the IMS Project schema, the Resource Description Framework and XML are described in relation to their relevance for the requirements of online course directories and preliminary conclusions are drawn as to their usefulness in indexing online courses.

As individuals and organizations complete the process of adopting new technologies to support learning, a number of factors come into play — including the technology’s design and usability; the fit with local culture and practices; the associated costs; and the expected benefits of adoption. Some factors are about the technology, others about the prospective user, still others about the local context of use. In addition to descriptions of factors and users, researchers have identified stages and repeating patterns that shape the adoption process. This chapter reviews these various factors and processes with an emphasis on school and university settings. We conclude with a reminder that adoption of technology depends on shared negotiation of values and priorities.

Instructional evaluation is concerned with understanding, improving, and applying methods for assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching and learning activities. In this chapter the scientific concept of evaluation is described. Applications of evaluation research in the field of information technologies for educational use like computer-based learning are presented and discussed.

With the increasing prevalence of telelearning (especially Web-based courses), there have been significant changes in our underlying assumptions about the nature of learning. Current pedagogy emphasizes collaboration, interactivity, and authenticity in student learning activities. At the same time, the training world has undergone a major transformation in terms of its focus on organizational learning and knowledge management. There have also been important shifts in the way we assess learning and our views of its effectiveness. This chapter begins by discussing the past legacy of learning theories and their relevance to these new directions and concludes by speculating on the potential impact of emerging technologies on the nature of learning.

The recent increase of Internet connectivity in the classroom has far-reaching implications for the professional development of teachers. The role of the teacher as a facilitator has been well documented in literature, the role of the teacher as a custodian is seldom mentioned. In this chapter, the concept of the custodial role is introduced. The role of the teacher and the students responses are discussed in detail. This chapter raises critical issues, leading to recommendations for the professional development of teachers.

For the foreseeable future, teachers will increasingly use computers and telecommunications as part of their classes. How can we use these tools wisely? This chapter examines that question from an ethical perspective, touching on pedagogical, legal, and philosophical issues. The best teaching involves us on a personal level; how can we encourage a human touch in electronic teaching? We focus on five specific issues: student privacy, student and teacher authentication, intellectual property concerns, teacher accountability, and the human touch in teaching.

The focus of this chapter is on how teachers and trainers are (or should be) trained at distance, but some attention is paid to several critical aspects involved in the problem, such as the problematic and ambiguous relation between teaching staff and learning technology, and the evolution of distance education models as a consequence of widespread diffusion of communication technologies.Referring in particular to the newly collected experience from European projects, in the field which used to be the exclusive territory of national authority, the in-service teacher training is shortly presented and some design principles for teacher training are proposed in the conclusions.

Rapid changes are occurring in society, both related to technology and not. The professional educator will need new competencies to function effectively in the changing situation. In this chapter, 16 competencies are discussed.

The changing role and skill sets of the IT professional in educational organizations is discussed. The IT specialist is confronted with rising expectations for support by students, instructors, and administrators while in many instances funding levels for IT are static or decreasing. The growing demand for IT workers in all sectors of society is making it more difficult for educational organizations to retain their IT professional staff. New strategies are needed to recruit and retain the IT specialist in the educational organization such as broadbanding IT job categories to provide more competitive and flexible compensation. The need for the IT professional to move from enterprise specialist to enterprise generalist is also discussed.

Since the globalization of education has been increasing dramatically, the need to consider cultural differences will increase dramatically as well. To teach and study successfully in a global network, online learning systems must be designed to anticipate user choices in different cultural settings. This chapter emphasizes the importance of anticipating cultural perspectives for the global classroom. At first, the terminology is examined and the different levels analyzed where culture occurs. A number of various dimensions of culture-related differences shows how culture can affect the acceptance and use of online learning systems. Upon this analysis this chapter suggests design guidelines to make learning systems culturally appropriate and concludes with further proposals.

This chapter addresses the issues of implementing a variety of computer science-based courses and, in particular, how user interaction has been facilitated in the courseware. A suite of multimedia-based tools have been developed to facilitate such systems and these will be described in this chapter.A variety of disciplines have benefited notably C programming, X Window programming, Internet Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Parallel Computing, Computer Vision, Image Processing and Computer Graphics. This ranges from the provision of online lecture notes, exercises and their solutions to more interactive packages suited primarily for teaching and demonstration packages. Appropriate examples from these courses, that illustrate a broad range of interactive activities, are given in this chapter.This chapter concentrates on recent developments we have made to our courseware concerning the provision of more comprehensive user interaction where appropriate.

There is a great need of mathematical skills in many professions today. For example, information, communication, and technology (ICT) need more and more experts with good knowledge on mathematics and statistics. In many countries it has been seen that ordinary ways of learning mathematics and statistics are in crisis. A possible solution could be the use of new pedagogical paradigms in the learning and utilizing communication and information technology i.e., computers and networks in learning. In this chapter, we present the current state of the art and examples of learning mathematics and statistics with modern information and communication technology.

In the teaching of physics information technology has been adapted for a variety of instructional strategies. IT has been valuable as physics teachers modify their instruction based on research concerning the teaching and learning of physics. Thus, the most common use of IT is in student laboratories. There, students collect data using video and measurement software tools or sensors interfaced to a computer. IT is also used to enhance interactive learning in large classes and to help students understand abstract concepts even when they do not have a strong mathematical or scientific background.Physics teachers were early adopters of information technology and multimedia techniques for interactive instruction. Almost as soon as desktop computers became available, physics teachers began creating interfaces that allowed students to collect data from experiments in the classroom. At about the same time physicists were developing instructional materials for analog, interactive videodiscs — an early form of today’s interactive multimedia. Programming simulations and using productivity software such as spreadsheets also became components of physics teachers’ toolboxes. To date all of these methods have advanced significantly while sophisticated model building and computer algebra have been added to the collection of available materials. Today, information technology has become a vital part of the physics teachers’ presentations and the physics students’ education.One area in which physics teaching has moved to the forefront is in the use of information technologies to have students collect data from experiments. This data collection is conducted primarily with either interface boxes that connect the computer to sensors in the classroom or with video from which students can make measurements. (At present the use of audio for this type of data collection has been rather limited, but it may be increasing in the future.) Throughout the development of these IT techniques, emphasis has always been placed on student-centered materials rather than using IT for demonstration purposes.

Hardly a day goes by without a mention of new information & communication technologies and their potential impact on education. Faculties are being urged to provide Web-accessible information. Legislators are concerned to provide Internet access for K-12 students. In this chapter, we take a look at possibilities and plans for the field of engineering. We discuss technologies and applications for engineering education, identifying gateways for the future.

This chapter will explore issues of designing and using information technology in the teaching of business. An introduction to finance multimedia program will be used as an example of how theory and practice can be melded to achieve a business-oriented program that is engaging, collaborative, fun, immersive, and reflective. The information, interaction, and interface designs will be discussed, as well as some of the outcomes of using the program in terms of motivation and learning outcomes.

Innovation in humanities education and research is stimulated by new technologies for the processing of language, speech, music, visual arts, and other expressions of the human mind. Three main topics will be discussed: the role of large-scale resources such as text corpora and digital archives; advanced methods and tools for processing and simulation; and the use of courseware, multimedia, and hypermedia in humanities teaching and learning.

This chapter discusses the challenges to language learning and its methodological principles posed by the new technologies. It will be argued that the integration of new media into language learning is a necessary step ensuring the acquisition of the kind of language skills and competencies needed for living and working in the knowledge society. Innovative use of such technologies will lead to more flexibility in the content and organization of learning; new media must be looked at not simply in terms of traditional self-study materials but rather in terms of tools for learning. New information and communication technologies and their role in language learning processes are the topic of this chapter. Constructivism as the appropriate paradigm for language learning at the start of the millennium will also be discussed. In addition, this chapter proposes a typology and an evaluation of technology-enhanced materials for language learning, and presents a few examples.

In this chapter, we discuss the question how educational technology should best be deployed in elementary and secondary schools. Different perspectives on technology seen in K-12 schools are discussed: Computer Literacy, Computer-Aided Instruction, School Re­form, and Discipline-based reforms. This chapter presents concepts, guidelines, and predic­tions about technology use in schools in the future.

Many countries have developed electronic networks for their educational systems and have implemented a wide range of online services. In this chapter, we first review the infrastructure and configuration of these education-specific networks. We then examine the services that are being provided to the various stakeholders in order to identify best practices based on operational experiences. We conclude by making recommendations with regard to the scope and content of services for a model education-specific network.

The rate of growth of IT-based education and training appears to be phenomenal. This chapter looks at some of the factors driving this expansion and a range of different university strategies. The relative benefits and disadvantages of IT for universities are considered and the major barriers to successful adoption are reviewed.

The creation of virtual corporate universities not only supports more flexible training and the development of human resources within companies. Rather, it is developing into a strategic concept for putting the paradigm of lifelong learning into practice. In the future, virtual corporate universities will be institutions of knowledge logistics and thus be of great importance to companies. Linked with this are new areas of responsibility, such as knowledge editing, knowledge services and the coaching of learning. Internet-based E-learning applications are an ideal software instrument for the process-oriented support of knowledge logistics. They give employees the functionality they need to organize and maintain different virtual project teams and supply them with the necessary knowledge. Web-based training, virtual cases and strategic online dialogs are assembled to build new knowledge and education products. This chapter presents concepts and solutions for the introduction and management of virtual corporate universities.

This chapter examines the terminology, the research literature, and the major educational issues behind the global classroom. It focuses on the problems of online tutoring and course design. Cultural issues of the global classroom are considered, as are the advantages and disadvantages of online learning for the non-native student. The chapter concludes with a description of institutional support and administration issues of global courses.

In the 21st century, digital libraries will have a tremendous positive impact on education, as sharing of learning resources increases, supporting not only distance education but also on-campus and independent discovery-based learning. High-quality resources of all types will be contributed by diverse sets of authors directly into digital libraries, including through open archives, leading to a vast increase in use of rich multimedia works. Two case studies, in the discipline of computing, and across institutions interested in electronic theses and dissertations, illustrate the 5S framework (facilitating understanding through use of the abstractions of societies, scenarios, spaces, structures, and streams) and other key concepts. So too does the exciting seed project of the US National Science Foundation to lead development of a National Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Digital Library (NSDL). While extensive research aims to solve the myriad problems to be faced, and evaluation studies have not definitively demonstrated expected benefits, preliminary findings on increased access and expanded utilization of more interactive materials demonstrate great promise.

Online learning settings can be designed to support self-determined, discovery learning in which the student can interactively browse through multimedia content, consolidate material of interest, and skip irrelevant material. In this way, sophisticated learning systems can integrate database information, texts, images, videos, and simulations. In this chapter three such systems are described.

In this chapter, we present the basic concepts of electronic business in general and in the context of educational settings. Individuals and organizations entering Electronic Education Markets must perform a careful analysis of needs, requirements, and potential benefits. We identify critical success factors and decision criteria for such projects. From a technological perspective, the main success factor is the interoperability of Electronic Markets and the participants’ systems. We provide a solution using XML-based standard specifications for trade processes and educational processes. The proposed architecture ensures the interchange of data and processes on Electronic Education Markets resulting in a framework for future developments.