International Journal of Educational Telecommunications

Taxonomy of Educational Websites—A Tool for Supporting Research, Development, and Implementation of Web-Based Learning

STEVASYS: Student Tele-Evaluation System Based on Distributed Collaboration Environment

Flow in Web Based Instructional Activity: An Exploratory Research Project

Surviving Technology: A Study of Student Use of Computer-Mediated Communication to Support Technology Education

Ying-Dar Lin, Chien Chou, Yuan-Cheng Lai, and Wen-Chung Wu

ydlin@cis.nctu.edu.tw

cchou@cc.nctu.edu.tw

This paper describes the WebCAT* system. The WebCAT* is a Web-centric, multi-server system that combines the WWW, database, and Internet: all test items are stored in databases located at each CAT server; users can access these materials via the Internet through a Web browser. The testbases of these CAT servers can be shared among each other in a way unseen to end users. Each test item in the WebCAT* is associated with degree of difficulty, domain, and the testbase it belongs to. Upon test generation, a test specification with test domain and max/min degree of difficulty is given to generate the test. Each test consists of items taken automatically, at random, from all the available testbases according to the specifications. This system has three major characteristics: multi-testbase sharing, real-time test generation, and item cross-analysis. A case study of an English exam with text and audio test items is given at the end of this work as an example. The overall feasibility of network-based testing is discussed as well.

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Rafi Nachmias, David Mioduser, Avigail Oren and Orly Lahav

nachmias@post.tau.ac.il

While many educators believe in the unprecedented opportunities offered by the Internet to enhance education, others are intimidated by its somewhat chaotic and unstructured nature. To enhance our understanding of Web-Based Learning (WBL) it is important to identify current educational uses of the Web, to survey the variety of technological and didactic means used for building educational Websites, and to detect how Websites may differ from previous computer-based instruction tools as learning environments. We present a classification scheme of educational Websites which comprises over 100 variables characterizing an educational Website according to four main dimensions: (a) basic descriptive information (e.g., target population, site developers, language), (b) pedagogical and educational considerations (e.g., instructional model, instructional means, cognitive demand), (c) knowledge attributes (e.g., representational structure and means, navigation tools), and (d) communication features (e.g., distant learning modes, synchronic/asynchronic activities, links configuration). This taxonomy of educational Websites may assist the developer in the implementation of the technology according to educational needs and constraints, will provide the practitioner with a tool for mindful selection and evaluation of instructional sites, and offer the researcher a conceptual framework for the formulation and study of relevant research questions.

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Jung S. Sung

Jssung@Mail.chonan-c.ac.kr

Dae J. Hwang

Djhwang@simsan.skku.ac.kr

This paper describes the innovative Student Tele Evaluation System (STEVASYS) in terms of a set of three modes: synchronous mode, asynchronous mode, and hybrid mode. STEVASYS has many functions which are the video window for participator in an examination, the audio for dialogue, user’s interface with button, and a configuration of environment for student evaluation within campus and at home. Applying the STEVASYS’s various functions and interface, we designed and implemented an interactive electronic authentication, distribution, monitoring, gathering, grading, and inquiring phase. The network environment of this system is connected internet, intranet, and various household electrical appliances (Video, Audio, PC, TV, Phone, Fax, etc.) with the home network backbone.

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Tom S. Chan

tschan@ttu.edu

Judi Repman

jrepman@gasou.edu

This exploratory research project investigated the connections between media characteristics, activity structure, intrinsic motivation, and subjective experience using Csikszentmihalyi’s flow model as framework with students engaged in common Web based educational applications within a classroom setting. Flow is an optimal psychological state where people become so intensely involved in an activity that they will participate for its own sake. Unlike intrinsic motivation, flow is both a function of ones personality and the structure of an activity. At the same time, common Internet applications such as telnet, email, listserv and browsing have different media characteristics. An examination of these activities using the flow state model can lead to better understanding of the dynamic between activity structure, media characteristics, intrinsic motivation, and subjective experiences. The study, which utilized a sample of 17 graduate students enrolled in an introductory Internet class, found high preferences for Web browsing but low preferences for using the listserv. Activity structure was similar in browsing, email, and telnet, but was rated inferior for listserv. Media characteristics were similar between listserv, email, and telnet, but browsing had unique attributes. The patterns suggest that media characteristics are more essential in providing positive motivation and experiences, while activity structure is more crucial in preventing the negative. The data also suggest individual differences area confounding factor in the study of flow.

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Amanda Sturgill

Amanda_Sturgill@baylor.edu

Wendy Martin and Geri Gay

As new communication technologies are introduced into instructional settings, educators and students must reexamine their assumptions about what classroom and out-of-class experience should be. Technologies are pervading aspects of life and need to be a portion of classroom instruction, both as tools and as lessons in themselves. But frustration arises when CMC tools are used as replacements for the interactions teachers and students expect. New technologies can be unstable and unfamiliar, interfering with, rather than supporting, education. This paper analyzes quantitative and qualitative data from a semester-long college course in which communication technologies were integral to the curriculum. The researchers discovered that many students felt frustrated and alienated by the course technologies. However, on deeper analysis, many student statements illustrate that significant learning did occur. Instructors can help turn the problems of technologies into strengths by: (a) making implicit, procedural experiences explicit learning activities; (b) using an involvement with communication technologies to help students gain a critical perspective on technology; and (c) reshaping the classroom communication environment to encourage shared inquiry, peer collaboration, and student-teacher interaction.

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