Search results

1

PROMOTING INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE: EMBEDDING LEARNING DESIGN USING LAMS IN ESOL

100%

Burns L., Walker S.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 3

1-17

EN

The use of the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) to support English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) learners has been shown to enhance learning in a Further Education College in North West London, UK. In this paper the authors discuss the findings of a pilot project that explored its use with different groups of learners. They consider some of the pedagogical issues affecting the integration of learning design using LAMS in the curriculum and its uptake by staff in the wider community. Cultural factors that contribute to the sharing of learning designs and, ultimately, the adoption of learning design by a community of practitioners are discussed and conclusions drawn about some ways to develop capacity.

2

PROSPECTS FOR LEARNING DESIGN RESEARCH AND LAMS

100%

Dalziel J.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 2

i-iv

EN

Learning Design is a descriptive framework for activity structures that can describe many different pedagogical methods. It is similar to music notation, which can describe many styles of music using a common format, but Learning Design needs further research to be an effective format for sharing good teaching ideas among educators. Learning Design may also provide benefits for traditional educational research through more precise descriptions of educational innovations, which could allow for better control of confounding factors, and through rich records of student performance. Effective sharing of research-based Learning Designs has great potential for the future of teaching and learning.

3

A COMPARISON OF LAMS AND MOODLE AS LEARNING DESIGN TECHNOLOGIES – TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE

100%

Bower M., Wittmann M.

Teaching English with Technology

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2011

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vol. 11

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issue 1

62-80

EN

As open-source educational systems both LAMS and Moodle provide a range of tools that can be used to support the development of pre-service students’ learning design capabilities. Sixty-eight teacher education students were surveyed to gauge their perceptions of each of these systems as frameworks for designing learning experiences. Responses indicated that the majority of students appreciated that different tools were suitable for different purposes. An unexpected outcome of the research was the different levels of learning design understanding that the survey questions revealed, ranging from highly developed to misconstrued.

4

LAMS AND Q&A CS-WIZARD THROUGH THE LENS OF COMPUTING GREEK TEACHERS: A PILOT EVALUATION STUDY

100%

Papadakis S., Kordaki M., Ghiglione E.

Teaching English with Technology

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2011

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vol. 11

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issue 1

159-175

EN

This study presents a pilot evaluation study of LAMS performed by Greek Computing teachers. The aim of this study is twofold: to investigate the usability of LAMS as a whole context of tools as well as to evaluate a specific learning tool -entitled the Questions &Answers Cognitive Skills –Wizard (Q&A CS-Wizard) - through the lens of the aforementioned teachers. This tool is integrated within LAMS for the improvement of the creation of questions to encourage the development of students' cognitive skills. Seventeen Computing teachers participated in a learning design experiment for the design of lesson plans using LAMS. The analysis of the data shows that those teachers’ lesson plans were improved -through the use of the Q&A CS-Wizard within LAMS- when compared with their lesson plans designed without the use of this tool. Positive views also expressed by these teachers about the usability of LAMS and the whole experience they acquired during their participation in the said experiment.

5

LAMS Revisited

100%

Alexander C.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 1

26-49

EN

This paper aims to provide principled and focussed discussion on key threads in LAMS (Learner Activity Management System) learning design literature (section 2) and seeks to look at issues pertaining to more advanced LAMS usage (section 3). The paper may be of interest to new and/or existing LAMS users who would like to read more about current issues in LAMS learning design literature and may be of use to the more adventurous computer-savvy LAMS user who aspires to exploit further the potential of certain LAMS tools. The version of LAMS described in this paper is Version 2.1.1 . It is hoped that study of this extended paper and its preceding introductory paper (Alexander 2008a, An overview of LAMS) will be of particular value to those wishing to gain more confidence in the proficient utilisation of LAMS and to those intending to engage in debate on current LAMS issues. The paper’s thematically diverse core sections may also heighten reader awareness of a pressing issue: the need to bring together the treasures of progressively more hard-core and swiftly changing computer technologies with the beliefs of an increasingly discerning education community.

6

LAMS IN TESOL: SKETCHING POTENTIAL

100%

Alexander C.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 2

50-72

EN

This paper aims to provide some initial ideas on how LAMS might be utilised in TESOL . Even though this research area requires significant development, it is held that there is growing potential and justification to use LAMS in TESOL. To this end an attempt will be made to illustrate how LAMS, with its increasing number of authoring tools (http://wiki.lamsfoundation.org/display/lamsdocs/Home), could be used (or might be developed to be used) to create sequences that addressed language learning skills in the following six key interrelated areas: vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening speaking and writing. It is maintained that a pre-while-post sequence could be one way of providing a foundation structure learning-design template on which teachers might draw on their experience to build sequences for the practice of these language skills. Although the creation of a more specialised TESOL authoring tool would assist in the construction of non-Internet dependent and LAMS-gradable sequences, it is held that TESOL sequences can still be authored with many of the existing tools.

7

DESIGN OF LEARNING SEQUENCES FOR VET (VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND RANTING) COMMUNITY USING LAMS. EXPERIENCE FROM LEONARDO DA VINCI PROJECTS

100%

Engh E.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 3

53-63

EN

Through different Leonardo da Vinci projects in the period 2005-2010 new pedagogical principles for organizing and delivering more cost- and time-efficient blended learning and training has been developed. This model may lead to new synergies for effective and pedagogical inclusion of state of the art high quality real-time visual collaboration tools into current training principles with a combination with Learning Design Tools such as LAMS. The basis for this framework has been a new pedagogical methodology for the training of the students themselves, named Activity Based Training (ABT). It was found that by using LAMS as a design tool, the teacher has to reflect on the activities introduced to the students in a structured and logical manner. In this way the structural facilities in LAMS fits the structure needed in the ABT methodology. Mechanical industries utilize traditional training methodologies by separating theoretical learning and training from practical training of skills. In such a pedagogical framework hands-on practice comes after the theoretical content descriptions. Activity Based Training (ABT) is closely connected to practical production activities. The training follows the same steps or phases as the industry follows when producing a product. It is then structured logically by giving the students a set of job orders which is broken down into job packages. However, drawing on previous experience based on the framework developed, new ideas will now be exploited and tested in a new set of course developments and frameworks for courses during 2009 – 2010.

8

CLOUDWORKS AS A ‘PEDAGOGICAL WRAPPER’ FOR LAMS SEQUENCES: SUPPORTING THE SHARING OF IDEAS ACROSS PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES AND FACILITATING COLLABORATIVE DESIGN, EVALUATION AND CRITICAL REFLECTION

80%

Galley R., Conole G., Dalziel J., Ghiglione E.

Teaching English with Technology

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2011

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vol. 11

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issue 1

35-47

EN

Cloudworks is a specialised social networking site for sharing, debating and co-creating ideas as well as designs and resources for teaching, learning and scholarship in education. The site has been co-funded by JISC and The Open University, and has ca.2500 registered users and visitors from 165 countries (May 2010). Fundamental to the development of the site has been the belief that one of the key challenges in encouraging more innovative learning design is getting teachers to share designs and ideas. Despite the fact that there are numerous repositories of good practice, case studies, learning objects and Open Educational Resources (OER), their impact on practice has been limited (McAndrew and Santos, 2008). Yet in interviews and workshops, when asked what would they find most helpful to enable them to make better use of technologies in their design practices, teachers consistently say that they want examples of good practice and access to others to share and discuss ideas with (Beetham and Sharpe, 2007). This paper will explore how Cloudworks might be used as a ‘pedagogical wrapper’ for LAMS sequences, supporting the sharing of ideas across professional boundaries and facilitating collaborative design, evaluation and critical reflection.

9

USING LAMS TO FACILITATE A ‘PEDAGOGY-FIRST’ APPROACH TO TEACHING LEARNING DESIGN

80%

Bower M.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 3

42-52

EN

This paper recounts a critical classroom experience that occurred when teaching technology-based learning design to trainee teachers, and discusses the implications of the incident for teaching and learning. Observations are drawn from the subject “EDUC261 – Information and Communication Technologies and Education”, which is an optional second year course available to trainee primary and secondary teachers at Macquarie University. On the basis of the observations it is conjectured that adopting a ‘pedagogy-first’ approach to learning design allows teachers to more easily select appropriate technologies from a suite of learning tools (such as LAMS) and sequence them more sensibly than when a ‘technology first’ approach is adopted. Furthermore, it is contended that by considering the nexus between pedagogy and technologies under the pedagogy-first approach, students are better able to appreciate relationship between educational principles and their implementation. Other implications of the approach are discussed and possible extensions are proposed.

10

STRUCTURED DIALOGUE DESIGN IN LAMS THROUGH INTERACTIVE LECTURE PODCASTING

80%

Dobozy E.

Teaching English with Technology

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2011

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vol. 11

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issue 1

1-18

EN

This paper explores the utility of interactive lecture podcasting in LAMS and the impact of structured dialogue design. It reports how curriculum renewal and innovation were greeted with scepticism by teacher education students enrolled in a compulsory curriculum unit at an Australian university. An analytic induction methodology in conjunction with educational data mining techniques was used to analyse the data. The purpose of the study was to understand one aspect of students’ active participatory learning behaviour deemed vital for their success in higher education (HE): willingness to engage in online peer-to-peer dialogue. The paper closes with a recommendation for more systematic monitoring of HE students’ online learning behaviour.

11

USING LAMS CHAT AND FORUM TO PROMOTE QUALITY CONVERSATIONS

80%

Cameron L.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 3

18-26

EN

LAMS Chat and Forum were used to conduct in-class online conversations with second year university students to raise the level of engagement with their compulsory class texts. These discussions overcame students’ reluctance to speak up in class, avoided the conversation being dominated by one or two of their classmates, could accommodate simultaneous small groups and moved the discussion to a student-centred activity. As LAMS Chat and Forum retains all previous history, students’ contributions could be reviewed at any time and formally assessed. The marked improvement in the students’ engagement with the texts has ensured the discussions will continue to be included in the program.

12

VISUALISING LEARNING DESIGN IN LAMS: A HISTORICAL VIEW

80%

Dalziel J.

Teaching English with Technology

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2011

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vol. 11

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issue 1

19-34

EN

The Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) provides a web-based environment for the creation, sharing, running and monitoring of Learning Designs. A central feature of LAMS is the visual authoring environment, where educators use a drag-and-drop environment to create sequences of learning activities. The visualisation is based on boxes representing discrete activity tools (forum, chat, quiz, content, etc.) which are connected together using arrowed lines to indicate the flow of tasks. This visual approach to authoring of Learning Design has both strengths and weaknesses: in terms of strengths, it has provided a common visual language among LAMS users for rapid adoption and sharing of instructional strategies, and a useful framework for simple linear pedagogical approaches; in terms of weaknesses, the visual simplification necessarily limits the amount of information that can be conveyed about a complex instructional design, especially those designs not easily adapted to a linear format (eg, spiral pedagogies). This paper describes the assumptions behind the LAMS visual authoring environment at the levels of both educational theory and software design, together with a review of implementation experiences among educators, including experiences from the LAMS Community. The paper concludes with reflection on future directions for visualisation of Learning Design, particularly in the area of annotation and time-based visualisation.

13

PLANNER TOOLS - SHARING AND REUSING GOOD PRACTICE

80%

Cameron L.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 2

40-49

EN

A number of projects teams are currently developing tools that use generic templates to share and reuse good teaching practice. They hope to introduce educators to the learning design process so that they might develop their own effective and pedagogically sound learning activities. In this way, they are encouraging the sharing and reuse of good practice in teaching and learning without requiring lecturers to become experts in learning design or theory.

14

LEARNING IN LAMS: LESSON FROM A STUDENT TEACHER EXPLORING GENE ETHICS

80%

Dennis C.

Teaching English with Technology

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2012

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vol. 12

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issue 2

74-87

EN

Due to its complex and microscopic nature, genetics is a difficult subject for many learners to conceptually grasp. Graphics, animation and video material can be extremely helpful to their understanding. A wealth of educational online content about genetics has been created over the past decade in the wake of the human genome being sequenced. However, these digital resources are distributed across disparate sites and it requires a high level of content and pedagogical knowledge to orchestrate the progression and choice of material available to the learner, as well as technical expertise to bundle the resources in a meaningful and accessible format. A contextualised learning sequence, called ‘Gene Medicine’, has been designed in LAMS by the author, a student teacher who has a doctorate in human genetics, and who has undertaken a career change to teach science to secondary students. This paper reflects an ongoing professional learning experience as the author integrates her high-content expertise and developing pedagogical knowledge within the LAMS digital environment.

15

THE THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF A LEARNING DESIGN PROJECT

80%

Cameron L.

Teaching English with Technology

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2012

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vol. 12

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issue 2

51-61

EN

In the “Implementing Effective Learning Designs” project a framework and design guidelines were created to provide a comprehensive scaffold to assist academics in the development of inspiring learning design examples and supportive activities. Learning design templates were developed that can be used by academic staff to tailor exemplary examples to meet particular requirements, whilst providing them with the underlying pedagogical principals involved in the learning design. The implementation of learning designs was also explored and barriers identified to their widespread adoption and ways of overcoming these. This paper outlines the theoretical underpinnings that supported the project.

16

LAMS AS A COGNITIVE TOOL FOR TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS’ REFLECTIVE THINKING

80%

Dennis C.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 3

27-41

EN

Design based research is one exemplary way to help educators, educational designers, and institutions rethink their pedagogical approaches within the learning environment. It is envisaged that unique uses of synchronous chat, polling, student feedback, e-portfolios and online questions and answers will help engage the new generation of learners. This paper provides a preliminary formative evaluation of the use of the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) as a cognitive tool for promoting student reflective thinking within the context of the first year of a teacher education program. There were two research questions. First, how do the learning activities, resources and supports using LAMS foster student engagement and critical reflection? Second, to what extent does learning design using LAMS assist students to link professional knowledge to professional practice? Students were asked to reflect on their own learning and document the process through which they constructed their view of learning from the field. The results showed that, when students recognised the relevance of learning through ‘rich tasks’, they saw their application to the world beyond the classroom and started to reflect critically on their experience. There was a positive response from students about the impact of LAMS in facilitating their understanding of the relationship between professional knowledge and professional practice. What is evident from the evaluations is that the learning activities, resources and supports using LAMS assisted students to do this. The barriers and challenges for future applications require attention to the reliability of IT infrastructure across the university and professional development and change management for academic and support staff.

17

LAMS AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

80%

Castaño A. B., Urgal C. C., Gómez G. R., Ruiz M. Á. G., Noche B. G.

Teaching English with Technology

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2011

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vol. 11

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issue 1

204-215

EN

In this paper we describe how LAMS (Learning Activity Management System) might help English language teachers to design and implement e-Learning-oriented e-Assessment and to enhance the techniques they employ to provide complete assessment units embracing all linguistic skills. In doing so, we present an example of an assessment unit in which such an implementation can be seen through the combination of different resources LAMS provides, thus improving the design of didactic syllabuses.

18

AN OVERVIEW OF LAMS (LEARNING ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM)

80%

Alexander C.

Teaching English with Technology

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2008

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vol. 8

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issue 3

EN

This paper provides a thorough introduction to LAMS (Learning Activity Management System). An overview of what LAMS is, and who created it, is followed by a description of its Learner, Monitor and Author environments. The numerous and supportive creater-designed online animated tutorial links ‘built into’ the paper cover in detail all the facets of these environments. It is held that the reader will benefit greatly and will acquire a sound knowledge base of how to use LAMS if these presentations, which total several hours, are viewed. To this extent, this article is also teacher-training in scope. The final part of the paper comprises a brief literature review on LAMS. LAMS pilot use in ESOL is highly recommended and a call is made for the subsequent dissemination of research findings.

19

INTRODUCING LEARNING DESIGN AND LAMS TO PRE-SERVICE EDUCATION STUDENTS

80%

Campbell C., Cameron L.

Teaching English with Technology

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2011

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vol. 11

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issue 1

148-158

EN

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for teaching and learning are continually changing and being replaced by the newest “must have” technologies, so how valuable are skillsbased technology courses in the long-term to pre-service teachers? While pre-service teachers need to be competent and confident users of technology (Cowie & Jones 2005), the universities also need to provide them with knowledge about attitudes, values and pedagogical understanding in respect to ICTs (Cameron 2007). These pre-service teachers need to develop a fundamental understanding about the nature of technological change and their own abilities to confront this change (Phelps & Ellis 2003). It has also been determined that ICT-based courses will hold more long-term value for the pre-service teachers if they promote generic technology skills involving authentic, reflective activities that assist them in their continued learning throughout their careers (Herrington, Oliver & Herrington 1999). Therefore, rather than simply provide and deliver specific skills-based information, the lecturer’s principal function has shifted to create a collaborative, challenging and supportive learning environment within which students were introduced to a broad range of philosophical and pedagogical issues that arise from the integration of a variety of technologies in today’s classrooms (Herrington & Oliver 2002).

20

ARE TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS READY FOR ONLINE LEARNING?

80%

Dobozy E.

Teaching English with Technology

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2009

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vol. 9

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issue 2

1-15

EN

Recent reviews of active and participatory learning design are critical of the effectiveness of such strategies, pointing out that students’ participation levels in technology-mediated discussion tasks are generally low. In addition, they note that when students are made to participate, through the attachment of assignment points to participation in online discussions, students become skilled in taking full advantage of the assignment points, without necessarily engaging in deep learning. These reviews point to a disturbing trend in student engagement that needs urgent attention. Does student effort or the lack of it pose an inherent problem for the design of online discussion tasks? Is there a need to factor in students’ ambivalence towards online communicative collaboration when designing LAMS learning tasks? In this paper, I document the use and usefulness of non-assessed discussion forum learning design, discussing the meaning of student content engagement and its relationship to deep learning before reporting preliminary research results that sought to investigate current student engagement with non-assessed learning tasks. My findings illustrate the importance of reassessing current conceptualisation of learning and assessment tasks as a linear progression. Moreover, I conclude that it is counter-productive to ‘make students collaborate’ through the simple attachment of assignment points to tasks, because it rewards compliance rather than learning.

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PROMOTING INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE: EMBEDDING LEARNING DESIGN USING LAMS IN ESOL

PROSPECTS FOR LEARNING DESIGN RESEARCH AND LAMS

A COMPARISON OF LAMS AND MOODLE AS LEARNING DESIGN TECHNOLOGIES – TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE

LAMS AND Q&A CS-WIZARD THROUGH THE LENS OF COMPUTING GREEK TEACHERS: A PILOT EVALUATION STUDY

LAMS Revisited

LAMS IN TESOL: SKETCHING POTENTIAL

DESIGN OF LEARNING SEQUENCES FOR VET (VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND RANTING) COMMUNITY USING LAMS. EXPERIENCE FROM LEONARDO DA VINCI PROJECTS

CLOUDWORKS AS A ‘PEDAGOGICAL WRAPPER’ FOR LAMS SEQUENCES: SUPPORTING THE SHARING OF IDEAS ACROSS PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES AND FACILITATING COLLABORATIVE DESIGN, EVALUATION AND CRITICAL REFLECTION

USING LAMS TO FACILITATE A ‘PEDAGOGY-FIRST’ APPROACH TO TEACHING LEARNING DESIGN

STRUCTURED DIALOGUE DESIGN IN LAMS THROUGH INTERACTIVE LECTURE PODCASTING

USING LAMS CHAT AND FORUM TO PROMOTE QUALITY CONVERSATIONS

VISUALISING LEARNING DESIGN IN LAMS: A HISTORICAL VIEW

PLANNER TOOLS - SHARING AND REUSING GOOD PRACTICE

LEARNING IN LAMS: LESSON FROM A STUDENT TEACHER EXPLORING GENE ETHICS

THE THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF A LEARNING DESIGN PROJECT

LAMS AS A COGNITIVE TOOL FOR TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS’ REFLECTIVE THINKING

LAMS AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

AN OVERVIEW OF LAMS (LEARNING ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM)

INTRODUCING LEARNING DESIGN AND LAMS TO PRE-SERVICE EDUCATION STUDENTS

ARE TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS READY FOR ONLINE LEARNING?