Edited by Mélanie Ciussi and Marc Augier

Proceedings of the

Proceedings of the

12th European Conference

on

e Learning

e-Learning

SKEMA Business School

Sophia Antipolis

France

France

30-31 October 2013

Volume One

Edited by

Mélanie Ciussi and Marc Augier

Mélanie Ciussi and Marc Augier

Proceedings of the

12th European Conference

on

e-Learning

ECEL 2013

SKEMA Business School

Sophia Antipolis, France

30-31 October 2013

Edited by

Mélanie Ciussi

and

Copyright The Authors, 2013. All Rights Reserved.

No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual authors.

Papers have been double-blind peer reviewed before final submission to the conference. Initially, paper abstracts were read and selected by the conference panel for submission as possible papers for the conference.

Many thanks to the reviewers who helped ensure the quality of the full papers.

These Conference Proceedings have been submitted to Thomson ISI for indexing. Please note that the process of indexing can take up to a year to complete.

Further copies of this book and previous year’s proceedings can be purchased from http://academic-bookshop.com

E-Book ISBN: 978-1-909507-84-5 E-Book ISSN: 2048-8645

Book version ISBN: 978-1-909507-82-1 Book Version ISSN: 2048-8637 CD Version ISBN: 978-1-909507-85-2 CD Version ISSN: 2048-8637

Published by Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited Reading

UK

44-118-972-4148

Contents

Paper Title Author(s) Page

No.

Preface v

Committee vi

Biographies ix

When Computers Will Replace Teachers and Counsellors: Heaven and Hell Scenarios

Aharon (Roni) Aviram and Yoav Armony 1

Planning and Implementing a new Assessment Strategy Using an e-Learning Platform

Rosalina Baboand Ana Azevedo 8

Authentic Learning in Online Environments – Transforming Practice by Capturing Digital Moments

Wendy Barber, Stacey Taylor and Sylvia Buchanan

17

Signature Based Credentials, an Alternative Method for Validating Student Access in e-Learning Systems

Orlando Belo, Paulo Monsanto and Anália Lourenço

24

Two-way Impact: Institutional e-Learning Policy/Educator Practices in Creative Arts Through ePortfolio Creation

Diana Blom, Jennifer Rowley, Dawn Bennett, Matthew Hitchcock and Peter Dunbar-Hall

33

Automated Evaluation Results Analysis With Data Mining Algorithms

Farida Bouarab-Dahmani and Razika Tahi 41

Language e-Learning Based on Adaptive Decision-Making System

sůĂĚŝŵşƌƌĂĚĄēĂŶĚLJƌŝů<ůŝŵĞƓ 48

Barriers Engaging With Second Life: Podiatry Students Development of Clinical Decision Making

Margaret Bruce, Sally Abey, Phyllis Waldron and Mark Pannell

58

Tasks for Teaching Scientific Approach Using the Black Box Method

Martin Cápay and Martin Magdin 64

Blended Learning as a Means to Enhance Students’ Motivation and to Improve Self-Governed Learning

Ivana Cechova and Matthew Rees 71

Strategies for Coordinating On-Line and Face-To-Face Components in a Blended Course for Interpreter Trainers

Barbara Class 78

iBuilding for Success? iBooks as Open Educational Resources in Built Environment Education

David Comiskey, Kenny McCartan and Peter Nicholl

86

Facilitation of Learning in Electronic Environments: Reconfiguring the Teacher’s Role

Faiza Derbel 94

Effect of e-Learning on Achievement and Interest in Basic General Mathematics Among College of Education Students in Nigeria

Foluke Eze 101

Self-Organization of e-Learning Systems as the Future Paradigm for Corporate Learning

Gert Faustmann 106

An Online Tool to Manage and Assess Collaborative Group Work

Alvaro Figueira and Helena Leal 112

Design 4 Pedagogy (D4P): Designing a Pedagogical Tool for Open and Distance Learning Activities

Olga Fragou and Achilles Kameas 121

The Affordances of 4G Mobile Networks Within the UK Higher Education Sector

Elaine Garcia, Martial Bugliolo, and Ibrahim Elbeltagi

131

An Integral Approach to Online Education: An Example Jozef Hvorecky 139

Paper Title Author(s) Page No.

Scaffolding in e-Learning Environment AŶƚŽŶşŶ:ĂŶēĂƎşŬ 149

Planning for Success in Introducing and Embedding Technology to Enhance Learning

Amanda Jefferies and Marija Cubric 156

Adopting Blended Learning – Practical Challenges and Possi-ble Solutions for Small Private Institutions

Olga Kandinskaia 164

Evaluation of e-Learning Courses for Lifelong Learning Jana Kapounova, Milan Majdak and Pavel Novosad

173

Interuniversity Collaborative Learning With Wiki Toolsets Elisabeth Katzlinger and Michael Herzog 184

Something for Everyone: MOOC Design for Informing Dementia Education and Research

Carolyn King, Jo-Anne Kelder, Rob Phillips, Fran McInerney, Kathleen Doherty, Justin Walls, Andrew Robinson and James Vickers

191

Collaborative Learning Environment for Discussing Topic Explanation Skill Based on Presentation Slide

Tomoko Kojiri, Hayato Nasu, Keita Maeda, Yuki Hayashi and Toyohide Watanabe

199

Learning Potentials of e-Assessments: Developing Multiple Literacies Through Media Enhanced Assessment

Christopher Könitz, Jakob Diel and Jürgen Cleve

209

Methodology for Creating Adaptive Study Material <ĂƚĞƎŝŶĂ<ŽƐƚŽůĄŶLJŽǀĄĂŶĚ:ĂŶĂaĂƌŵĂŶŽǀĄ 218

Using Twitter, Blogs and Other Web 2.0 Technologies and Internet Resources to Enhance Arabic as a Foreign-Language Reading Skills

Blair Kuntz 224

The use of Social Networks by Universities for Communication at Institutional Level

Wolfram Laaser, Julio Gonzalo Brito and Eduardo Adrián Toloza

231

Developing Active Collaborative e-Learning Framework for Vietnam’s Higher Education Context

Long Le, Hao Tran and Axel Hunger 240

Telepresence as Educational Practice in the Third Teaching-Room – a Study in Advanced Music Education

Karin Tweddell Levinsen, Rikke Ørngreen and Mie Buhl

250

An Empirical Study on Faculty Perceptions and Teaching Practices of Wikipedia

Josep Lladós, Eduard Aibar, Maura Lerga, Antoni Meseguer and Julià Minguillon

258

How to Motivate Adult Learners Through e-Learning: Some key Insights From Research Case Studies

<ĞǀŝŶ>ŽǁĚĞŶ͕ZĂŚĞůĂ:ƵƌŬŽǀŝđĂŶĚWĞƚĞƌ

Mozelius 266

Training Teachers to Learn by Design, Through a Community of Inquiry

Katerina Makri, Kyparisia Papanikolaou, Athanasia Tsakiriand Stavros Karkanis

274

Usefulness of Feedback in e-Learning From the Students’ Per-spective

María-Jesús Martínez-Argüelles, Dolors Plana-Erta, Carolina Hintzmann-Colominas, Marc Badia-Miró and Josep-Maria Batalla-Busquets

283

Trust as an Organising Principle of e-Learning Adoption: Rec-onciling Agency and Structure

Jorge Tiago Martins and Miguel Baptista Nunes 293

Smart Environments for Learning – Multi-Agent Systems Approach

Peter Mikulecky 304

Assessment of Virtual Learning Environments by Higher Education Teachers and Students

Luísa Miranda, Paulo Alves and Carlos Morais 311

Learning by Building – the Lunarstorm Generation Constructing Their own ePortfolios

Peter Mozelius 319

Learning and Instruction in the Digital Age Antoinette Muntjewerff 323

Assessment

of

Virtual

Learning

Environments

by

Higher

Education

Teachers

and

Students

Luísa

Miranda,

Paulo

Alves

and

Carlos

Morais

Instituto

Politécnico

de

Bragança,

Bragança,

Portugal

palves@ipb.pt cmmm@ipb.pt

Abstract:Thisresearchfocusesontheproblematicoftheuseofvirtuallearningenvironmentsinahighereducation institutioninthenorthofPortugal.Inthisstudy,wesetthescientificandpedagogicalbackgroundofvirtuallearning environments,andweanalyzetheresponsesobtainedfromanonlinequestionnaireconductedto536subjects,all teachersandstudentsatthatsamehighereducationinstitution,namely347studentsand189teachers.Theresearch questionsofthisstudyweresetoutinordertoassessthefrequencywithwhichthehighereducationstudentsand teachersofthatinstitutionaccessvirtuallearningenvironments,thevaluetheyassigntothoseenvironmentsaswellasto theirintegratedtools,andalsotoassesstheinfluenceofusers computerskillsontheiraccesstovirtuallearning environments.Consideringthecomputerskillsclassificationofeachsubjectofthisstudy,threeindependentcategories werecreated,bothforteachersandstudents,associatedwithbasicskills,intermediateskillsandadvancedskills, respectively.Inthispaperweadoptadescriptiveandinferentialdataanalysis,usingtherecommendedstatistical procedures.Resultsshowthatthemajorityofteachersandstudentsaccesstheinstitution svirtualenvironmentonadaily basis.However,therearesignificantdifferencesbetweenteacherswhohaveintermediatecomputerskillsandthosewho havebasicskills,asthepercentageofteacherswithintermediateskillsaccessingthevirtuallearningenvironmenteveryday ishigherthanthatoftheteacherswhohavebasiccomputerskills.Nosignificantdifferenceswerefoundamongstudents asfarastherelationbetweenvirtuallearningenvironmentaccessandcomputerskillsisconcerned.Withregardtothe assessmentofthevirtuallearningenvironment,morethan80%oftheteachersconsiderthattheuseoftheinstitution s virtuallearningenvironmentisvaluabletosendmessagesornoticestostudents,providetheteacher sofficeattendance hours,provideascheduleofactivities,providestudents assessment,providetheplanofstudents activities,andallow studentstoaccessresourcesandsubmitassignmentsonline.Theaspectsvaluedbymorethan80%ofthestudentswere: checkingexamresultsandreceivingmessagesornoticesfromteachers.Theimportanceofthisstudyismainlyrelatedto knowledgesharingwiththescientificcommunityconcernedwiththeimplementationofvirtuallearningenvironments, basedontheassessmentofaspecificsituationwhichinvolvedhighereducationstudentsandteachers.Althoughthe resultscannotbegeneralizedwithinthescopeofotherinstitutionsasthesamplebelongstooneinstitutiononly,thestudy providesindicatorswhichmayrepresentanassetforfuturestudiesconcerningtheassessmentanduseofvirtuallearning environmentsandthedigitaltoolstheyprovideinthehighereducationcontext,aswellasfortheunderstandingofthe relationbetweentheuseoftheseenvironmentsandtheirusers computerskills.

Keywords:eͲlearning,virtuallearningenvironments,digitalresources,tools,highereducation

1.

Introduction

Informationandcommunicationtechnology(ICT)hasrepresentedarealrevolutioninalmostalltheareasand

scopesofhumanactivity.Ineachfieldofactivity,ICThasplayedseveralroles,amongwhichthatofatoolof

communicationandpromotionofinteractionamongpeopleandbetweenpeopleandorganizations.

Wehighlightthevirtuallearningenvironments(VLEs)asanorganizingelementwhichconcentratesabigpart

oftheteachingandresearchworkinhighereducation.Theseenvironmentsgenerallyconstituteacoherent

wholewhichinvolvesseveraldimensions,amongwhichwestresstheuseandassessmentofthedigitaltools

whichintegratethem.Therefore,inthecontextofhighereducation,andinordertounderstandthe

assessmentthatstudentsandteachersmakeofVLEs,aresearchworkwasdeveloped,aimingtoanswerthe

followingquestions:

ƒ Howoftendohighereducationstudentsandteachersaccessvirtuallearningenvironments?

ƒ Doestheusers computerskillslevelinfluencetheiraccesstovirtuallearningenvironments?

ƒ Whatvaluedohighereducationstudentsandteachersassigntovirtuallearningenvironmentsandtothe

toolswhichconstitutethem?

TheanswertothesequestionsmayhelptosupportoptionsofuseandadequacyofICTtohighereducation

institutions educationalgoals.As Naveh,TubinandPliskin(2010)pointout,understandinghowthe

organizationalfactorscorrelatetotheuseandsatisfactionofVLEsmayhelpacademicinstitutionstogethigher

LuísaMiranda,PauloAlvesandCarlosMorais

returnontheirinvestmentintheseenvironments.ByknowingtheVLEaccessandusefrequency,aswellasthe valueassignedbyitsmainusers,itiseasiernotonlytodefinepoliciesofVLEuseinhighereducation institutionsbutalsotoimplementthefeatureswhichstudentsandteachersvaluethemost.

2.

Virtual

learning

environments

Virtuallearningenvironments(VLEs)havebecomethecoreforinnovationandforeducationalchange.As

referredbyKukulskaͲHulme(2012),!timeofchange"hasbecomeapopularrefraininthespeechabouthigher education.Theauthorhighlightsthattheadvancesoftechnologyandservicesbasedontechnologywillchange experiencesandthepublic sexpectationsasfarasknowledgeaccessandsharingisconcerned,addingthatthe highereducationinstitutionshavetoprovidemoreonlinelearningandcontentaswellasmoreeffectivetools tofindandusecontents.

Sothatgoodresultswithinformationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICT)mayexist,theirusemustbe

supportedbyeffectivepedagogicalframeworkswhichenablethegatheringofincreasinglymoreinformation, theimprovementofinformationprocessingaswellasitsdiffusiontoanyindividualintheworld(DelVal, CamposandGaraizar,2010).

Inallteachinglevels,eachteachermusttrytoprovideandenhancequalitylearningtotheirstudents.

AccordingtoEllisetal.(2009),highereducationresearchersandteacherswhotryhardfortheirstudentsto

getgoodlearningresultscanhardlybesuccessfulwithoutusingICT.Theauthorshighlightthatitisstilldifficult

tounderstandwhichthebestwaytouseICTisinordertoenablestudentstoinvolvemoredeeplyand

intentionallyinlearning.Similarly,andregardingtheuseofeͲlearning2.0,Karasavvidis(2010)claimsthat studentswillhavetobemoreactiveandparticipatory,andtheywillhavetotakemoreresponsibilityand controlovertheirlearningsothattheycanbecomemoreselfͲdetermined,opentocooperation,willingto

shareandexchange,committedtoparticipationinonlinecommunitiesaswellastotheconstructionof

meaningsinsharedtasks.

TheimplementationofICTinanyinstitutionmustbecarefullythoughtupandplanned,althoughinmany

cases,aspointedoutbyMahdizadeh,BiemansandMulder(2008),educationalinstitutionsdonotpayenough attentiontoquestionssuchashow,whatandwhyICTmustbeimplemented.

AccordingtoMcGillandHobbs(2008),ICThaveincreasinglyinfluencedhighereducation,sincetheirrolehas

changedfrombeingsupplementarytobeingthecoreofteachingandlearning.Thus,ICTrepresentsan

essentialelementtothecreationoflearningenvironmentstechnologicallyadvanced,aboutwhichBrooks

(2011)highlightsthatevidencestronglysuggeststhat,regardlessalltheotherfactors,ICThasasignificantand positiveimpactonstudents learning.VanSchaik,MartinandVallance(2012)addthattechnologycanand mustbeappliedinausefulwaytochangestudents role,turningthemintoactiveparticipantsintheirown

learningandenablingteacherstoassumeasupportiveroletostudentsinseveralmodalities.Inotherwords,

theadequateuseofICTinlearningenvironmentscanenablestudentstochangeapassivelearningmodelinto anactivelearningmodel.

ConsideringthecomplexityandthedimensionsthataVLEcanincorporate,itisnoteasytofindaconsensual

definitionofVLE.However,itisessentialtoanalyzeandvalueseveralapproaches,sothateachuser,namely

students,teachersandresearcherscanexplorethepartsofeachapproachwhichbettermeettheiraims.

Virtuallearningenvironmentsandtheirassociatedtoolsprovidestudentsandteacherswithgreatconditions

forthepromotionofjointdialogueandreflection.Condeetal.(2012)suggestthatbothstudentsandteachers usemeansofcommunicationavailableintheirlearningcontextstoperformlearningactivitiesandimprove theirresults.

Brown(2010)suggeststhatthereareauthorswhoclaimthatVLEshaveonlyhadasmallimpactonthehigher educationpedagogy,althoughtheyconsiderthemagreatcommercialsuccessbutlikelytobereplacedbyWeb 2.0,astheyconsiderthelattermoresuitableforindividualiststylesaswellasstudentsandteachers abilities

andneeds.ThesameauthoraddsthatWeb2.0hasthepotentialtochangethenatureoflearningand

teachinginasubstantiatedway,namelythroughthecreationoflearningnetworkswhichmaychallengethe

roleoftraditionalinstitutionsmoreeffectivelythanpriortechnologies.

LuísaMiranda,PauloAlvesandCarlosMorais

Ontheotherhand,accordingtoPalmerandHolt(2012)inastudywhichinvolved6800responsesduringthe periodbetween2004and2011,theclassificationsofVLEsatisfactionincreasedsignificantlyinalltheassessed items.

Informationandcommunicationtechnologyhasthepotentialtorevolutionizetheclassroomandenablethe

acquisitionofhigherskillssuchassettingoutproblems;drawingupquestionnaires;andorganizing,evaluating

andbuildingknowledge.However,italsoenhancesmovementsofsuperficialmemorizationandcoverageof

contents(BonkandZhang,2008).

TheuseofICTinformalteachingandlearningcontextsathighereducationlevel,andespeciallytheuseof VLEsaswellasofthetoolswhichintegratethemdemandsquitealotofpersistence,knowledgeandflexibility. AccordingtoTuckerandMorris(2011),theapproachestotheimplementationofflexibleeducationintegrate fivecategoriesofflexibility:knowledge;time;content;accessrequirements;andpedagogy.Eachprogramcan integrateflexibilityelementsfromeachofthesecategories,whichimpliesthatanyteachingandlearning configurationisflexibleinsomeway.

3.

Methodology

Thisstudyassumescharacteristicsofthequantitativeresearchparadigmasfarasitsnatureisconcerned,and ithighlightsaspectsrelatedtotheuseofavirtuallearningenvironment(VLE),namelytheSakaienvironment, adoptedsince2008bythePortuguesehighereducationinstitutionwherethestudywascarriedout.

Thisstudypresentsdescriptiveandinterpretativefeatures.Datacollectionproceduresconsistedofcarrying outtwoonlinequestionnaires,oneforstudentsandanotheroneforteachers.Thequestionnaireswerecarried outinthelastsemesterofthe2011/2012schoolyearintheinstitutionwheretheresearcherswork.TheSakai

communitywasresponsiblefordrawingupandvalidatingthequestionnairesand24highereducation

institutionswereinvolvedintheprocess.Thestudyinvolved536subjectsofthesameinstitution,among

which347undergraduatestudentsand189highereducationteachers,allofwhomacceptedtherequestto

answerthequestionnaires.

Thesampleofstudentswasobtainedwithinapopulationof6943,whichcorrespondsto5%oftheinstitution s students.Amongthesesubjects,63.7%arefemaleand37.3%aremale.Thesampleofteacherswasobtained withinapopulationof502teachers,thuscorrespondingto38%oftheinstitution steachers.Amongthese subjects,45.5%aremaleand54.5arefemale.Thecomputerskillsofthesamplesubjectswereclassifiedinto basic,intermediateandadvancedskills.Withinthestudents sample,11.5%havebasiccomputerskills,70.6% haveintermediateskills,and17.9%haveadvancedskills.Withintheteachers sample,16.4%havebasicskills, 65.1%haveintermediateskills,and18.5%haveadvancedskills.

Theresultsarepresentedaccordingtothesequenceoftheresearchquestions.Wepresentadescriptivedata analysis,followedbyaninferentialanalysisofthesituationsinwhichsuchanalysisisrequired.

4.

Results

Withtheseresultsweintendtopresenttheachievementofthegoalssetforthisresearch,namelyunderstand theassessmentthatbothstudentsandteachersmakeofthevirtuallearningenvironments(VLEs).Asreferred byPalmerandHolt(2010),understandingwhichVLEelementsareusedandvaluedbystudentsandteachers willrepresentanessentialelementforeffectivedecisionmakingasfarasfutureinvestmentsineͲlearningare concerned.

Theresultsarepresentedaccordingtothefollowingtopics:highereducationstudentsandteachers

perceptionsregardingVLEsaccessfrequency;theinfluenceofstudentsandteachers levelofcomputerskills

ontheVLEsaccess;highereducationstudentsandteachers assessmentofVLEsandtheirintegrateddigital

tools.

LuísaMiranda,PauloAlvesandCarlosMorais

4.1 Highereducationstudentsandteachers perceptionsregardingvirtuallearningenvironments

accessfrequency

4.1.1 Assessmentoftheaccessfrequencytovirtuallearningenvironments

TheassessmentoftheaccessfrequencytoVLEsfocusedonthestudentsandteachers perceptionsregarding accesstotheVLEtowhichtheyareconnected.

InTable1,wepresenttheresultsconcerningaccesstotheinstitution sVLE.FromobservingTable1we concludethattheinstitution sVLEisusedonadailybasisbyahighpercentageofstudents(59.4%)and teachers(47.1%).Also,thepercentageofstudentsaccessingtheVLEishigherthanthatofteachers.Ifwe considerthesumofthepercentagesassociatedwiththeoptions!everyday"and!fewtimesperweek",we canseethatthevastmajorityofstudents(82.7%)andteachers(81%)accesstheVLEonaweeklybasis.

Table1:Accesstotheinstitution sVLE

Duringthissemester,youhaveaccessedtheinstitution sVLE: Students (n=347)

Teachers (n=189) Everyday(onceormore) 59.4% 47.1%

Fewtimesperweek 23.3% 33.9%

Onceaweek 6.9% 12.2%

Fewtimespermonth 3.7% 2.1% Fewtimespersemester 5.5% 3.7%

Never 1.2% 0%

4.1.2 Theinfluenceofstudentsandteachers levelofcomputerskillsontheVLEsaccess

Overthelasttwodecades,particularly,ahugeefforthasbeenputintothecreation,diffusionanduseof digitalTechnologies.Ingeneral,educationalinstitutionshavealreadyadheredtothesetechnologies,butthey presentdifferentlevelsofknowledgeconcerningtheVLEsaccess,useandbenefits.Afterclassifyingthe

computerskillsofthesamplesubjectsofthisstudyintobasic,intermediate,andadvanced,weanalyzethe

influenceoftheseskillsonthevariablesunderstudy.

InTable2,wepresenttherelationbetweentheteachers computerskillsandtheaccessfrequencytotheVLE.

Table2:Relationbetweentheteachers computerskillsandtheaccessfrequencytotheVLE

Teachers accesstotheinstitution sVLE Computerskills

Never %

Fewtimesper semester

%

Fewtimesper month

%

Oncea week

%

Fewtimes perweek

%

Everyday %

Total %

Basic (n=31)

0.0 57.1 0.0 26.1 16.7 11.2 16.4

Intermediate (n=123)

0.0 14.3 50.0 60.9 59.1 75.3 65.1

Advanced (n=35)

0.0 28.6 50.0 13.0 24.2 13.5 18.5

Inordertoassesstheinfluenceofcomputerskillsontheaccesstotheinstitution sVLE,thegroupsofteachers

werenamedasfollows:teacherswithbasicskills(TBS);teacherswithintermediateskills(TIS);teacherswith

advancedskills(TAS).Thesubjects computerskillswereconsideredasanindependentvariable,andthescore obtainedbyeachsubjectintheassesseditemswasconsideredasadependentvariable.Thenumericalscoring

wasgiventotheitemsasfollows:Never(0);Fewtimespersemester(1);Fewtimespermonth(2);Oncea

week(3);Fewtimesperweek(4);Everyday(5).Accordingtothisnumericalscoring,thehigherthescoreis,the highertheaccessfrequencytotheinstitution sVLEis.

ByapplyingLevene stestofhomogeneityofvariance,andconsideringtheequalityofvariancesamongthe

teachers groups(TBS,TIS,TAS)asanullhypothesis,wefoundthatitispossibletorejectthenullhypothesisat asignificancelevelof0.033,whichmeansthatthereisnoequalityofvariances.Therefore,inorderto comparethemeansofthethreegroups,weusedWelchandBrownͲForsythe stest,withwhichitwaspossible torejectthenullhypothesisofequalitybetweenthethreegroups meansbyasignificancelevelof0.012and

LuísaMiranda,PauloAlvesandCarlosMorais

0.013,respectively.Thus,itispossibletosaythattherearesignificantdifferencesintheVLEaccessdepending ontheteachers computerskills.

BycomparingeachpairofgroupsusingLevene stestofhomogeneityofvariance,wefoundthatanequalityof variancesisassumedbetweenthegroupsTBSandTAS,andthegroupsTISandTAS.ByapplyingTukey stest,

wefoundthattherearenosignificantdifferencesbetweenthemeansofeachpairoftheteachers groups

compared.

BetweenthegroupsTBSandTIS,theequalityofvariancesisnotassumed.Therefore,Tamhne sT2testwas

usedtocomparethemeans,andtheresultsshowthattherearesignificantdifferencesbetweenthetwo

groups(sig0.04).

Basedontheseresults,itispossibletosaythattherearesignificantdifferencesbetweentheteacherswho

havebasiccomputerskillsandthosewhohaveintermediatecomputerskillsasfarasVLEaccessisconcerned. WhatstandsoutfromobservingTable2isthatthereisahigherpercentageofVLEaccessamongtheteachers whohaveintermediateskillsthanamongthosewhohavebasicskills.

Asimilaranalysisofstudents scoringwascarriedoutconcerningtheinfluenceoftheircomputerskillsontheir accesstotheinstitution sVLE.Thegroupsofstudentswerenamedas:studentswithbasiccomputerskills (SBS);studentswithcomputerintermediateskills(SIS);andstudentswithadvancedcomputerskills(SAS).

InTable3,wepresenttherelationbetweenthestudents computerskillsandtheaccessfrequencytothe institution sVLE.

Table3:Relationbetweenthestudents computerskillsandtheaccessfrequencytotheVLE

Students accesstotheinstitution sVLE Computerskills

Never %

Fewtimesper semester

%

Fewtimesper month

%

Oncea week

%

Fewtimes perweek

%

Everyday %

Total % Basic

(n=40)

25.0 21.1 23.1 4.2 12.3 10.2 11.5

Intermediate (n=245)

25.0 63.2 69.2 75.0 69.1 72.3 70.6

Advanced (n=62)

50.0 15.8 7.7 20.8 18.5 17.5 17.9

Aftercarryingoutananalysissimilartothatdescribedabovewhencomparingteachers groups,wefoundthat therearenosignificantdifferencesbetweenthescoremeansobtainedbyeachpairofstudents groups.In otherwords,thereisnoevidencethatthestudents computerskillshaveaninfluenceontheaccessfrequency totheinstitution sVLE.

4.2 Highereducationstudentsandteachers assessmentofVLEsandtheirintegrateddigitaltools

TheuseofVLEsandofthedigitaltoolswhichconstitutethemdependsontheanswersthattheycanprovide

totheirpotentialusers,aswellasonthevaluethatthoseusersassigntothem,namelywithregardtothe

answertoeducationalgoalswhichenabletheinteractionbetweenteachersandstudents.AsAlbirini(2006)

pointsout,whentheuniversitiespromotetheuseofICT,theyneedtounderstandtheteachersandstudents attitudestowardsitsuse.

Therefore,wewillassessthevalueassignedbyhighereducationstudentsandteacherstotheinstitution sVLE

concerninginteraction,thesubmissionofassignments,andtheaccesstocontentsandsupporttoolstothe

courses.

4.2.1 Interaction

Asfarasinteractionisconcerned,wepresent,inTable4,thevalueassignedbyundergraduatestudentstothe VLEsforthedevelopmentofinteractionwiththeirteachers.

LuísaMiranda,PauloAlvesandCarlosMorais

Table4:Valueassignedbystudentstotheuseoftheinstitution sVLEfortheinteractionwithteachers(n=347)

Fortheinteractionwithteachers,theVLEisvaluableto... Notused % Disagree % Neutral % Agree % Checkthescheduleofactivities 6 5 13 76 Receivemessagesornotices 1 1 3 94 Doonlinetests 29 10 23 37 Checkexamresults 1 1 3 95 Usetheplanofactivities 12 5 15 68 Checktheteacher sofficeattendancehours 7 4 12 77 Participateingroups 20 6 21 54 Monitormyprogress 17 9 23 52

ByobservingTable4,itispossibletosaythatthemostvaluedaspectsasfarasinteractionwithteachersis concernedare:checkingexamresults;receivingmessagesornotices;checkingtheteacher sofficeattendance hours;andcheckingthescheduleofactivities.

BearinginmindthattheVLEscanbeameetingplacebetweenteachersandstudents,wealsoassessedthe

valueassignedbyteacherstotheVLEconcerninginteraction.DataispresentedinTable5.

Table5:Valueassignedbyteacherstotheuseoftheinstitution sVLEfortheinteractionwithstudents(n=189)

Fortheinteractionwithstudents,theVLEisvaluableto... Notused % Disagree % Neutral % Agree % Providethescheduleofactivities 4.2 1.6 9.0 85.2

Sendmessagesornotices 2.1 1.1 2.1 94.7 Provideonlinetests 32.8 6.3 20.6 40.2 Provideexamresults 4.8 4.8 9.0 81.5 Provideaplanofactivities 7.4 2.6 9.0 81.0 Providetheteacher sofficeattendancehours 5.8 0.5 5.8 87.8 Createandmonitorworkinggroups 22.2 1.6 15.3 60.8 Monitortheirprogress 18.5 4.8 25.4 51.3

ThedatainTable5enableustoinferthattheaspectsmostvaluedbyahigherpercentageofteachersasfaras

interactionwithstudentsisconcernedare:sendingmessagesornotices;providingtheteacher soffice

attendancehours;providingthescheduleofactivities;providingexamresults;andprovidingaplanof

activities.Stressshouldbelaidonthefactthatbothstudentsandteachers,withthedueadaptations,seemto valuethesameaspectsofVLEsasfarasinteractionisconcerned.

4.2.2 Submissionofassignmentsandaccesstocontents

Thevalueassignedbystudentsandteacherstothesubmissionofassignmentsandtheaccesstocontentsis

presentedinTable6.

Table6:Valueassignedbystudentsandteacherstotheinstitution sVLEforthesubmissionofassignments andaccesstocontents

Students (n=347)

Teachers (n=189) Forthesubmissionofassignmentsandaccesstocontents,theVLE

isvaluableto... NU % D % N % A % NU % D % N % A % Submitassignments 9 3 11 78 5.8 2.1 4.2 87.8 Submitpartofmyassignments 14 8 19 60 10.6 1.6 13.8 74.1 Sharepartsoftheassignmentswithcolleagues 18 9 20 53 18.5 4.2 24.9 52.4 Cooperatewithcolleaguesinthefulfillmentoftasks 18 8 21 53 9.5 1.6 11.1 77.8 Readorcommentoncolleagues assignments 20 12 24 44 21.2 10.1 32.8 36.0 Askquestionsbeforethelesson 16 11 20 53 7.9 3.2 15.3 73.5 Askquestionsduringthelesson 21 21 23 35 24.3 18.0 28.0 29.6 Askoranswerquestionsafterthelesson 12 7 17 64 6.3 2.6 12.7 78.3 Sharecontentswithcolleagues 18 9 20 54 15.3 3.2 23.3 58.2 Accessbibliographicresources 10 5 13 72 3.7 1.1 6.3 88.9 Providefeedbackonthecourse 15 7 20 58 11.6 2.6 11.1 74.6

Caption:NU!Notused;D!Disagree;NͲNeutral;A!Agree

LuísaMiranda,PauloAlvesandCarlosMorais

Withregardtothesubmissionofassignmentsortheaccesstocontents,thethreeaspectsvaluedbyahigher percentageofstudentsandteachersare:submittingassignmentsandaccessingbibliographicresources,and askingoransweringquestionsafterthelesson.Thisanalysisshowssimilarresultstothoseobtainedin previousstudies(Mahdizadeh,BiemansandMulder,2008;PalmerandHolt,2012).

4.2.3 Supporttoolstocourses

Theassessmentofthedigitaltoolswhichintegratetheinstitution sVLEwasmadebyhighereducation teachersandstudents.Intable7,wepresenttheassessmentmadebybothstudentsandteachers.

DatainTable7showthattheVLEtoolsmostvaluedbyahigherpercentageofstudentsare:resources; notices;messages;andassignments,thusconfirmingresultsobtainedinpreviousstudies(Carvalho,Arealand Silva,2011;PalmerandHolt,2010).

Table7:Studentsandteachers assessmentofdigitaltoolsasasupporttothecourses

Students(n=347) Teachers(n=189) Thefollowingtoolsarevaluableasa

supporttothecourses

NU %

D %

N %

A %

NU %

D %

N %

A %

Schedule 18 5 24 53 20.1 2.1 15.3 62.4

Notices 1 1 3 94 0.0 0.0 1.6 98.4

Resources 1 1 2 96 0.5 0.0 1.1 98.4

Assignments 6 2 7 86 4.2 0.5 9.5 85.7

Onlinetests 29 5 21 45 36.5 4.8 22.8 36.0

Dropbox 23 4 20 52 18.5 2.6 13.2 65.6

Messages 4 1 6 90 2.1 2.1 4.8 91.0

Forums 29 7 23 40 31.2 3.2 21.7 43.9

Roster 10 3 25 62 1.1 0.5 3.2 95.2

Search 21 4 22 52 14.3 3.2 14.8 67.7

Summaries 13 3 16 69 1.6 0.5 5.3 92.6

Caption:NU!Notused;D!Disagree;NͲNeutral;A!Agree

TheInstitution sVLEtoolsmostvaluedbyahigherpercentageofteachersare:resources;notices;messages; roster;andsummaries.

5.

Conclusions

The results are supported by data obtained through questionnaire, in a study which involved 347 undergraduatestudentsand189teachersataPortuguesehighereducationinstitution,andwhichfocusedon thesesubjects perceptionsregardingtheaccessfrequencytotheinstitution svirtuallearningenvironment andtheassessmenttheymadeofthatsameenvironment.Thefollowingconclusionsweredrawnfromthis study.

Thepercentageofstudentswhoaccesstheinstitution svirtualenvironmentonadailybasisishigherthanthe percentageofteachers.

Thecomputerskillsoftheparticipantsinthisstudywereclassified,bythemselves,intobasicskills, intermediateskills,andadvancedskills.Bothstudentsandteachersweredividedintothreeindependent groupsaccordingtothatclassification.Thepercentageofsubjectsaccessingtheinstitution svirtuallearning environmentonadailybasisishigheramongbothstudentsandteacherswhohaveintermediatecomputer skillsthanamongthosewhohaveadvancedorbasicskills.However,whencomparingthevariousgroupsof studentsandthevariousgroupsofteachers,significantdifferenceswerefoundonlybetweentheteachers whohaveintermediateskillsandthosewhohavebasicskills.Inthisregard,ahigherpercentageofteachers whohaveintermediateskillswerefoundtoaccesstheVLEonadailybasis.

Thevirtuallearningenvironmentassessmentwasmadetakingintoaccountaspectsrelatedtointeraction,the submissionofassignmentsandtheaccesstocontentsandsupporttoolstothecourses.

LuísaMiranda,PauloAlvesandCarlosMorais

Asfarasinteractionisconcerned,theaspectsmostvaluedbyahigherpercentageofstudentswere:checking examresults;receivingmessagesornotices;checkingtheteacher sofficeattendancehours;andcheckingthe scheduleofactivities.Withregardtotheinteractionwithstudents,theaspectsmostvaluedbyahigher percentageofteacherswere:sendingmessagesornotices;providingtheteacher sofficeattendancehours; providingthescheduleofactivities;providingexamresults;andprovidingaplanofactivities.

Consideringthesubmissionofassignmentsandtheaccesstocontents,theaspectsmostvaluedbyahigher percentageofbothstudentsandteacherswere:submittingassignments;accessingbibliographicresources; andaskingoransweringquestionsafterthelesson.

Amongthevirtuallearningenvironmentsupporttoolstothecourses,theonesvaluedbyahigherpercentage ofstudents,over90%,were:resources(asasupporttothecourses);notices;messages;andassignments.

Thevirtuallearningenvironmenttoolsvaluedbyahigherpercentageofteachers,over90%,were:resources (asasupporttothecourses);notices;messages;register;andsummaries.

Theconclusionsofthisstudycannotbegeneralizedwithinthescopeofotherinstitutionssinceallthesubjects takingpartinthisstudybelongtothesameinstitution.However,itgivesasetofindicatorswhichshouldbe takenintoaccountforfuturestudies,namelyconcerningtheinfluenceofusers computerskillsontheaccess totheinstitution senvironment,andtheassessmentofvirtuallearningenvironmentsaswellasofthedigital toolswhichintegratethem.

References

Albirini,A.(2006)"Teachers attitudestowardinformationandcommunicationtechnologies:thecaseofSyrianEFL teachers#,Computers&Education,Vol.47,No.4,pp373!398.

Bonk,C.andZhang,K.(2008)Empoweringonlinelearning:100+activitiesforreading,reflecting,displaying,anddoing,San Francisco:JosseyͲBass.

Brooks,D.(2011)"Spacematters:Theimpactofformallearningenvironmentsonstudentlearning#,BritishJournalof EducationalTechnology,Vol.42,No.5,pp719!726.

Brown,S.(2010)"FromVLEstoLearningWebs:TheImplicationsofWeb2.0forLearningandTeaching#,Interactive LearningEnvironments,Vol.18,No.1,pp1!10.

Carvalho,A.,Areal,N.andSilva,J.(2011)"Students perceptionsofBlackboardandMoodleinaPortugueseuniversity#,

BritishJournalofEducationalTechnology,Vol.42,No.5,pp824!841.

Conde,M.,GarcíaͲPeñalvo,F.,RodríguezͲConde,M.,Alier,M.,Casany,M.andPiguillem,J.(2012)"AnevolvingLearning ManagementSystemforneweducationalenvironmentsusing2.0tools#,InteractiveLearningEnvironments,pp.1!17 DelVal,J.,Campos,A.andGaraizar,P.(2010)"LMSandWeb2.0toolsforeͲlearning:UniversityofDeusto$sexperience

takingadvantageofboth#,IEEEEducationEngineering(EDUCON),pp1751!1757.

Ellis,R.A.,Hughes,J.,Weyers,M.andRiding,P.(2009)"Universityteacherapproachestodesignandteachingand conceptsoflearningtechnologies#,TeachingandTeacherEducation,Vol.25,No.1,pp109!117.

Karasavvidis,I.(2010)"Wikiusesinhighereducation:exploringbarrierstosuccessfulimplementation#,Interactive LearningEnvironments,Vol.18,No.3,pp219!231.

KukulskaͲHulme,A.(2012)"Howshouldthehighereducationworkforceadapttoadvancementsintechnologyforteaching andlearning?#,TheInternetandHigherEducation,Vol.15,No.4,pp247!254.

Mahdizadeh,H.,Biemans,H.andMulder,M.(2008)"DeterminingfactorsoftheuseofeͲlearningenvironmentsby universityteachers#,Computers&Education,Vol.51,No.1,pp142!154.

McGill,T.andHobbs,V.(2008)"Howstudentsandinstructorsusingavirtuallearningenvironmentperceivethefit betweentechnologyandtask#,JournalofComputerAssistedLearning,Vol.24,No.3,pp191!202.

Naveh,G.,Tubin,DandPliskin,N.(2010)"StudentLMSuseandsatisfactioninacademicinstitutions:Theorganizational perspective#,TheInternetandHigherEducation,Vol.13,No.3,pp127!133.

Palmer,S.andHolt,D.(2010)"Students perceptionsofthevalueoftheelementsofanonlinelearningenvironment: lookingbackinmovingforward#,InteractiveLearningEnvironments,Vol.18,No.2,pp135!151.

Palmer,S.andHolt,D.(2012)"Trajectoriesofengagement:arepeatedcrossͲsectionalinvestigationofstudentperceptions ofanonlinelearningenvironment#,ResearchinLearningTechnology,Vol.20,pp253!Ͳ265.

Tucker,R.andMorris,G.(2011)"Anytime,anywhere,anyplace:Articulatingthemeaningofflexibledeliveryinbuilt environmenteducation#,BritishJournalofEducationalTechnology,Vol.42,No.6,pp904!915.

VanSchaik,P.,Martin,S.andVallance,M.(2012)"Measuringflowexperienceinanimmersivevirtualenvironmentfor collaborativelearning#,JournalofComputerAssistedLearning,Vol.28,No.4,pp350!365.