eTutor Project

Pilot evaluation reporta Free, Easy and Effective Web 2.0 solution

for Technology and Community enhanced e-learning. March 13 th 2009

 

Mr. James WilliamsSchool of Applied Computing

Swansea Metropolitan UniversityMount Pleasant

SwanseaSA1 6ED

Funded by

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS1.  Introduction................................................................................................................................................................. 5

2. Pilot 2 - Personal Computer & Internet Technology:...................................................................................................6

3. The Learning Environment.......................................................................................................................................... 7

4. Mind Mapping software:............................................................................................................................................ 10

5. Google search Engine:.............................................................................................................................................. 12

6. Learning Strategy...................................................................................................................................................... 13

7.  Module Design & Mind Mapping Software................................................................................................................14

8.  Tutor-led Discovery Learning................................................................................................................................... 16

9.  Pilot 2: The Internet Technology unit trial................................................................................................................. 18

10.  Pilot Outcomes, Activity & Feedback...................................................................................................................... 18

10.1 User feedback – (P) Problems & Solutions:..........................................................................................................19

10.2 Learners work........................................................................................................................................................ 22

11. Custom Search Engines & e-learning Discovery Map:............................................................................................22

11.1. Search Method effectiveness test........................................................................................................................ 26

11.2 Test 1: Standard Google search:........................................................................................................................... 27

11.3 Test2: Google (CSE) Custom search engine:.......................................................................................................28

11.4 Test3: Google refined search string:...................................................................................................................... 30

11.5 Test 4: Refined Custon Search Engine string:.......................................................................................................31

12. Pilot 3 - Blended & Collaborative Learning:.............................................................................................................33

12.1 Collaborative Learning........................................................................................................................................... 35

12.2 Transformative Learning & Learning culture..........................................................................................................36

12.3 Post monitoring..................................................................................................................................................... 37

12.4. Social Networking features:.................................................................................................................................. 41

12.5 Learner feedback:................................................................................................................................................. 42

12.6 Feedback evaluation............................................................................................................................................. 46

12.7 WebGamez Feedback - Problems & Solutions:....................................................................................................48

16. Google vs. Google CSE:......................................................................................................................................... 48

17. Further experimentation using Maps....................................................................................................................... 49

17.1 Maps and VLEs:.................................................................................................................................................... 50

17.2 Academic Maps (Course, Community, Student)....................................................................................................51

17.2.1 Course Map:....................................................................................................................................................... 52

17.2.2 Tutor Map or Central Community Map:..............................................................................................................52

17.2.3 Feedback Map (eAssessment)........................................................................................................................... 53

17.2.4 Student Map / e-portfolio:................................................................................................................................... 53

17.2.5 Map Notes:......................................................................................................................................................... 56

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17. Conclusions:............................................................................................................................................................ 58

18. Recommendations:................................................................................................................................................. 60

TABLE OF FIGURES                

Figure 1 e-learning discovery map: Module structure 6

Figure 2 Kickapps eTutor screenshot 7

Figure 3 Wetpaint eTutor screenshot 8

Figure 4 Ning start screen. 9

Figure 5 Learning environment home page 9

Figure 6 Ning Social Learning environment Management system 10

Figure 7 Mindomo Mind Map link & attachment test 10

Figure 8 Mindmiester Min Map link & attachment test 11

Figure 9 Mindmeister attachments 11

Figure 10 Module Map 14

Figure 11 Unit Map 15

Figure 12 e-learning Discovery Map learning activities 15

Figure 13 Mindmeister.com Mind Map – Google search strings 16

Figure 14 la5 learning activity 16

Figure 15 Google search result 17

Figure 16 Pilot 2 forums 18

Figure 17 Cross browser compatibility 19

Figure 18 Learning strategy scroll box 20

Figure 19 Google Custom Search Engine 22

Figure 20 Google custom search box 23

Figure 21 CSE URL on Mind Map 23

Figure 22 CSE within eDiscovery Map. 24

Figure 23 CSE used on Ning SLE frontpage. 25

Figure 24 eDiscovery Map 26

Figure 25 learning activity CSE 28

Figure 27 WebGamez Ning SLE 33

Figure 28 WebGamez e-learning Discovery Map 33

Figure 29 WebGamez ‘e-learning Discovery & Resource Map’ 34

Figure 30 Collaborative tutorial map 35

Figure 26 Competition 35

Figure 31 Deciding on Social Network Features 36

Figure 32 Learning Support Team 37

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Figure 33 Ning Groups 39

Figure 34 Buddypoke 41

Figure 35 Pilot 3 Survey response 42

Figure 36 Ning E-mail settings 48

APPENDICIES:

Appendix 1: Mind map feature list

Appendix 2: Site Activity

Appendix 3: Pilot 2 Feedback form

Appendix 4: Pilot Invitations & briefing

Appendix 5: Original Teaching and Learning Strategy

Appendix 6: create a private network

Appendix 7: Buddypoke

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1.   Introduction

The aim of the eTutor project is to develop degree level online learning modules without creating new learning content and delivering the modules without using a conventional Virtual Learning Environment/ Learning Management System.

The project objectives are to:

1. Apply the principles of the e-Framework to create a learning environment, using freely available software tools, based on user needs and specified collaboratively by learners and their on-line tutors.

2. Develop quality assured modules of higher level on-line learning, in partnership with the learners, using content and resources sourced from the Internet and based on discovery learning within a social constructivist pedagogic approach.

3. Pilot the modules with learners as part of a validated on-line HE programme and evaluate the experiences of both learners and tutors in a real institutional and social community context.

4. Draw conclusions about the current ability to create an effective service-oriented open-source on-line learning environment and to deliver a quality assured learning experience using freely available content and resources.

Ref: Project information and reports available from: http://etutor.pbwiki.com/)

The purpose was to test the proposition that, as online learning developed to become a key component of learning delivery, globally and at all educational levels, learning content and resources would be freely available online to be harvested and used to support specific learning activities.

Furthermore, the project was designed to test the suggestion that, as Web 2.0 services and social networking applications became more widely available, customised online learning environments could be created using these applications without the need for a VLE/LMS.

The pedagogic approach taken was based on discovery learning where the learner was in control of the learning process, guided and supported by the tutor. The learner would be provided with a customised gateway to online learning resources that would be harvested and presented for use using search engine applications.

The learning environment design was based on the use of social networking software that was freely available and allowed a mash-up to be created of the Web services  and tools needed to support the learning process. The terms: Learning community, Network, Social network are used interchangeably to represent the Social Learning Environment created using the Ning Platform in this report.

The Information and Communications Technology 1 module, part of the Foundation degree for eCommerce offered by Glamorgan University, provides learners with skills in the use of desktop computer applications that will be useful to them at work, at home and as an on-line learner. The unit covers word-processing, spreadsheets, the use of the Internet and on-line communications.

Initially the eTutor team decided to undertake two Pilot studies with a team of ‘Expert Learners’, educators with experience of delivering educational programmes within the Further and Higher education sector.

PILOT 1: Desktop & Computer Applications: http:// e-college . wetpaint.com Online tutor: Tony Toole.Social Learning environment: WetpaintDiscovery Learning method: Competency Map & Customised Google Search Engine. Learning content: Word-processing and spreadsheets.Feedback method: Forum

PILOT 2: Personal Computer & Internet Technology: http://etutor.ning.com Online tutor: James Williams.Social Learning environment: NingDiscovery Learning method: Activity Map & Pre-defined Google search string.

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Learning content: Personal Computer, Internet and on-line communications.Feedback method: Forum and online questionnaire.

PILOT 3: Blended Learning – Web Games: http://webgamez.ning.com/ Tutor: James Williams.Social Learning environment: Ning Discovery Learning method: Collaborative eTutorial Map with Custom Google Search Engine.Learning content: Web Games design and development.Feedback method: Forum and online questionnaire.

Following the pilot 2 trial, a further pilot study was undertaken to gain feedback from actual learners at this level of education. The opportunity was seized to test the methods and technologies with a group of undergraduate students studying BSc Computer Games development & BA Creative Games design degree on the ‘Web & Mobile development’ module. More information about this pilot is located in section 12 of the report.

2. Pilot 2 - Personal Computer & Internet Technology:

Pilot 2 delivers the Personal Computer, Internet and on-line communication aspects of the Information and Communications Technology 1 module, an existing foundation degree level ICT module validated by the University of Glamorgan. For the purposes of this pilot (Pilot 2), the module has been titled Personal Computer and Internet Technology. It is important to note that the word-processing and spreadsheet aspects of the validated module have been trialed in a separate Pilot study (Pilot1).

This evaluation report reviews pilot 2 & 3. Pilot 2 used the Internet Technology unit of the Personal Computer and Internet Technology module created for this pilot study. A group of ‘expert learners’ were invited to select a Subject area from the Internet Technology Unit of the module to complete as part of the pilot study. The e-discovery learning Map illustrates these below:

Figure 1 e-learning discovery map: Module structure

Clicking the ‘Unit: Internet Technology’ arrow on the node above displays the ‘Unit map’ below:

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3. The Learning Environment

Many social networking applications now include the communication and resource presentation features required to support online learning. Social Networking sites are now rivaling and replacing traditional Virtual learning environments.

There are many freely available Social networking options available online. The following Social Networking and Wiki options were considered and tested for the purposes of the eTutor project:

Prototypes:

KickApps: www.kickapps.com (social network) Ning: www.ning.com (social network) Crowdvine: www.crowdvine.com (social network) Peopleaggregator: www.peopleaggregator.net (social network) Communityserver: www.communityserver.com (social network) Facebook: www.facebook.com (social network) pbWiki: www.pbwiki.com (wiki) Wetpaint: www.wetpaint.com (wiki) BackPackit: www. backpackit .com (collaborative information management)

The evaluation criteria included:

Free Web 2.0 (collaborative tools) Forums (for social discussion) Blogs (for reflective learing) Add as friend feature (Social network) Coursework Submission option (Tutor wall, Blog, Submission Forum) Personal Page/s. MindMap Integration

After testing and comparing the functionality and extensibility of the above applications: Ning, KickApps and Wetpaint emerged as the best two options to consider for the eTutor project.

Final choice:

Ning (http://etutor.ning.com/) ** Easiest to build, manage and use, including more and easy-to-use social & collaboration tools for tu-tor and learners.

The figures below show some screenshots of early prototypes created during the comparative analysis phase of investigation.

Figure 2 Kickapps eTutor screenshot

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Figure 3 Wetpaint eTutor screenshot

The application chosen for the delivery of the Personal Computer & Internet Technology module was Ning. Ning is an online platform for people to create their own social networks. It is a free social networking solution.

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Figure 4 Ning start screen.

Ning competes with large social sites like MySpace and Facebook by appealing to people who want to create their own social networks around specific interests with their own visual design and choice of features. The unique feature of Ning is that anyone can create their own social network for a particular topic or need, such as an Educational network. Ning allows anyone to build a highly customizable community portal with little or no knowledge of web design. Educators around the world, Technical and importantly Non-technical, are using Ning to develop educational resources.

The social networks running on Ning's service are developed with Open Source PHP. Ning has a very modern look and feel, with full use of modern Web 2.0 features allowing full customization of the community site. Learners have their own page and are able to change the color of many elements, such as the text, headers, background or tables to suit their own look and feel. There is alo a large variation of interactive widgets available, which are very easy to install/embed by both learner user and Tutor administrator.

Currently, Ning has both free and paid options. When someone creates a social network on Ning, it is free by default and runs ads that Ning controls. If the person creating the social network chooses, they can pay to control the ads(or lack thereof), in exchange for a monthly fee. To help educators benefit from Ning's unique social networking environment, Ning has offered to remove the ads from educational networks, although currently this mainly applies to networks geared toward students between the ages of 13 and 18 (grades 7 - 12).

The learning environment home page is shown in the figure below. The main window is divided into boxes which accommodate all the aspects of the learning environment including: · Introduction text, Events, Chat, Notes, Members, list, eDiscovery Map, Videos, Google Search, Latest Activity, Forum, Blog.

Figure 5 Learning environment home page

The creation of a Ning Network only takes a few minutes, and the Management of the Social Learning Environment is also very easy. The system is ideal for educators to rapidly and easily create a Social learning environment. The Ning system provides a central ‘Manage’ page for the Network creator, please see the figure below:

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Figure 6 Ning Social Learning environment Management system

4. Mind Mapping software:

There are many mind mapping tools available online such as Mindomo and Mindmeister, these were chosen to be evaluated for this project. The comparison criteria consisted of four essential requirements: (1) Ease of use (2) Hyperlinks (3) Upload/attach learning resources (4) Multi-layered Maps.

1) Ease of use:Although Mindomo offers a wonderful array of tools, significantly greater than Mindmeister, this was it’s downfall, as MIndmeister is significantly easier to use and offers all the essential features deemed necessary to achieve the project’s requirements.

2) Hyperlinks:It is very easy to assign a hyperlink to a node. The user can either click on the ‘hyperlink’ icon in the main horizontal menu or alternatively utilise the Hyperlink accordion menu on the left. However using mindomo it is not possible to create a link inside a node, instead a small square link box is created at the side of the node. This feature is very useful but not user-friendly as there is nothing to indicate that it is a Hyperlink.

Figure 7 Mindomo Mind Map link & attachment test

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3) Upload/attach learning resources:Online Mindmaping software can not only be used to structure a course, or list favourite website links, organise tasks/projects, but also as a document repository to for example organise Lecture/tutorial files. This feature is available in the premium version of both MindMiester ($4 a month) and Mindomo ($6 a month).

For example, the following image displays a node with a recommended link and file attachments in Mindmiester.

Figure 8 Mindmiester Min Map link & attachment test

It is very easy to add attachments to a node using MindMeister:

Figure 9 Mindmeister attachments

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4) Multi-layered Maps: Mindmeister also allows you to link to multiple mind-maps, allowing the creation of multi-layered maps. This feature is very useful as a Tutor can present the user learner with increasing amounts of information regarding the learner’s interest.

For example a Course Director may decide to create a map of a course, the first map a student views would simply contain the name of the course at the center branching off to display 3 more nodes simply containing text descriptions Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3. When the user clicks one of these nodes another Map loads on the screen displaying all the modules for that degree course, again the user can click a module node and the module map will be displayed on the screen, this map administered by a module co-coordinator can contain the module specification document at center, surrounded by nodes illustrating the lesson plan (containing learning resources) for the semester or academic year. Year 1, 2 and 3 nodes can contain Assessment Schedules. This is a very easy to use, easy to create, central and interactive resource for students, and can very easily be integrated into any VLE/SLE.

In conclusion Mindmister was chosen because of it’s ease of use and ability to create Multi-layered maps.

5. Google search Engine:

It didn’t take much research to realise that the Internet community has largely agreed that Google is the most effective search engine on the Web, as it has the largest index and retrieves the most accurate results.

pandia.com argues “at the moment it is probably the best search engine in the World. The main reason is that is so good at putting the best and most relevant sites at the top of the result list. It achieves this by rating sites according to how many other sites there are that link to it. Links from popular or important sites counts more than links from smaller, unknown sites. “

Ref: http://www.pandia.com/resources/search-engines.html

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6. Learning Strategy

The purpose of the pilot is to provide learners with an effective ‘Social learning environment’ geared towards the acquisition of skills in the use of the Internet and on-line communications that supports the students in achieving the learning outcomes of the module. This section presents an ‘eTutor & learning strategy’ to accomplish this.

Active Learning (Research & Learning Activities) Discovery Learning, Instructor-led and Reflective Learning are combined to offer a synthesized and innovative approach utilizing the benefits of each method.

The learning strategy is designed to instill the ‘discovery learning’ life skill and empower the learner to learn 'How to learn' as part of a team and individually. The strategy assists learners to improve their discovery learning skills, and content discernment i.e. the ability to wisely select appropriate sources of information. Students learn how to research, to complete the learning activities and overcome problems, developing personal confidence, positive and pro-active attitude/personality. Learners are encouraged to solve problems through social collaboration and independent self-reflection before contacting the Tutor. This method builds social team-working skills and self-confidence/esteem.

The system allows the Tutor to 'easily' review student progress. The weekly blog post is a very useful feature to help the student focus and progress, personal discipline and a very useful monitoring tool for the Tutor to see who is progressing and who may require some help and/or encouragement. Also very useful for a time-constrained course to ensure students are making use of the 'Student Private Study time'.

The online Tutor is always available to support this process through forums/personal messages, providing balance between instructional and discovery learning strategies. The Learning Environment has a built-in email system and allows the learners to easily send a message to the Tutor if immediate support is required; the system sends a notification message to the Tutors personal or work email informing her/him that a message has been sent from the SLE system.

The following text is located on the front-page of the eTutor learning environment, it’s aim is to introduce online learners to the eDiscovery learning strategy.

LEARNING STRATEGY: (top of front-page)

* WELCOME * to the eDiscovery module: 'Personal Computer and Internet Technology'. This Module is divided into two Units: (1) Personal Computer Technology; & (2) Internet Technology. LEARNING STRATEGY: Each of the Units above have been split into Subject areas. Each Subject area contains a list of learning activities. Please use the 'elearning Discovery Map' below to navigate to the tasks. Please click on the arrow icons (located on each learning activity node) to search for relevant sources of information. You are also encouraged to input your own search criteria to find appropriate information.

Learners are required to post a weekly message on your Blog 'every week' stating the progress you have made and tasks you have completed.1) Individual Blog: Each week learners are advised to post a reflective log entry, stating key insights/problems/solutions. (Reflective learning: 10% assessment)2) Collaborative Forum: During the process of completing each learning activity post a message in the appropriate forum documenting any insights, difficulties and solutions you feel may be helpful to the learning community. (Collaborative learning: 10% assessment)

SUBMISSION: Complete each task by creating a brief Report (using a word editor and screen-capture images) clearly describing the steps taken to complete each learning activity. When you have completed all the tasks for a Subject area (e.g. How the Internet Works) submit your work using your 'Blog' facility. It is important to reference the background sources that contributed to the creation of your work, please review the referencing guide located in the Notes section.

SOCIAL LEARNING: Use the 'forums' to meet other learners, share ideas, difficulties, insights and areas of interest. We encourage all community members to help and support each other during the learning process.

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TIME MANAGEMENT: All community members are expected to define their ‘Personal Learning strategy’ on their ‘MyPage’ text areas, stating the weekly day/time that you will dedicate to the learning activities e.g. eTutor ICT learning time: Tuesday 3 - 5pm & Thursday 5 – 7pm.

TUTOR SUPPORT: Our Social Learning Environment also enables you to send a message to your Tutor or post a message on your Tutor’s wall or participate in the weekly live 'Tutor chat' Wednesday 4-5pm GMT. If you have an urgent question please send me a message via my profile page or via email james.williams@smu.ac.uk.

COMMUNITY GUIDELINES: (bottom of front-page)

An online learning community is an online space for members to support each other throughout the learning process, through respectful, proactive and collaborative partnerships. Through this social network learners work as a community to achieve a shared learning objective.

Learning activities/objectives are proposed by a Tutor/instructor or may arise out of discussions between community members.

Blogs & Reflective learning: Blogs blend personal journaling with social networking to create environments with opportunities for self reflection and learning. Students are required to keep a self-reflective progress blog, documenting their personal learning strategy and progress on a weekly basis. Guided by the tutor this method ensures the most effective use of the Student study time and supports the student's professional learning and development.

Forums: The creation of too many forums can take the learners focus away from the core subject areas of the Module. As a result community wide forums should only be created by the Tutor. However sub community Group forums can be created by learners if required.

Referencing: It is important to reference the background sources that contributed to the creation of each learning activity, please review the referencing guide located in the Notes section on the left.

Collaborative learning activities: The number one skill in demand by employers is people and team working skills. The self-reflective blog and forums not only provide a mechanism for you to asses your technical development skills but also your current ability to work effectively with others.An online learning community is an online space for members to support each other throughout the learning process, through respectful, proactive and collaborative partnerships, learners work as a community to achieve the shared aim and learning outcomes of the module.

Posting comments: All posts should be respectful and relevant. The community is owned and created by the community. If a post is deemed offensive or inappropriate to any member it will be removed and your a/c suspended.Disclaimer: All messages express the views of the author, and neither the module Lecturer or University will be held responsible for the content of any message.

Tutor note: Learning environment and culture is improved when the Tutor disables the users/lerners ability tro create forums. Having forums related to subject reas only, brings greater focus withi nthe ncofiment to these areas of learning. The tutor can of course create a general 'Student chat' forum to allow for expression that is not related to the subject natters, to allow for an open and social  environment.

7.   Module Design & Mind Mapping Software

The design focused on the ‘learning outcomes’, the knowledge and practical skills that the learner would expect to have on completion of the module. The module design used a structured sequence of learning activities in numerical order to guide the learners towards achieving the outcomes of the module.

An online ‘mind-map’ (was created to partition the module and display the Units, Subject areas and leaning activities to allow the learners to clearly perceive and proceed through the sequence of tasks for each Subject in a user-friendly and structured format.

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The module: 'Personal Computer and Internet Technology' was subdivided into two Units:1) Personal Computer Technology; &2) Internet Technology.

Figure 10 Module Map

Each of the Units has been further subdivided into ‘Subject areas’:

Figure 11 Unit Map

Each Subject area contains a list of tasks, which can be seen in the figure below (indicated in red) for the learner to complete.

The task completion process was supported by the online tutor as they went through the discovery learning process. Support was provided in two forms:

1.      Via Forums and Messages posted in the Learning Environment.

2.      Weekly chat session.

Figure 12 e-learning Discovery Map learning activities

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The eDiscovery map is shown in the figure above. Each of the ‘task nodes’ provide URL-enabled arrow icons containing pre-defined Google search strings that identify and present online resources related to the learning activity. The learner can utilise the search result to carry out the learning activities (tasks). One concern is that using pre-defined search strings discourages the learner from improving their own search string creation and refinement skills.

The Mind Map above has been named ‘eDiscovery Map’ within the Social Learning environment and was created using MindMeister a free Collaborative Online Mind Mapping tool available at http://www.mindmeister.com/.

A unique feature of MindMeister, is the ability to allow multiple people to simultaneously work on the same mind map and see each other's changes as they happen in real-time, this feature was used in Pilot 3.

8.   Tutor-led Discovery Learning

The module presents a Discovery learning approach supported, structured and facilitated by a Tutor. Thus, ‘Pure Discovery learning’ is not being used, instead a combination of both Pure Instructor-lead and Discovery learning methods are used to offer a balanced approach.

Early in the project the Tutor had to choose the ‘online discovery search’ method, two possible solutions were evaluated: 1) Customized Google Search Engine; or (2) Customized Google Search string. A small test was utilized to compare the effectiveness of each approach for the pilot 1 Wetpaint prototype. Based on these results, and a review of the listed websites, the non-customized results seemed to present the learner with links that were more relevant to the learning activity. Based on the results, the decision was taken not to use CSEs for pilot 2.

At this point, the tutor chose to use ‘Customized Google Search strings’ for each learning activity as the discovery learning method.

A Mind Map was then created to organize and list the learning activities. Next, the tutor, after testing and refinement, inserted appropriate google search strings for each of the learning activity nodes on the map.

Figure 13 Mindmeister.com Mind Map – Google search strings

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A Google search result page appears each time the learner clicks on a node, allowing the learner to examine the search result list and use the information to develop their knowledge/skills and complete the learning activity. The expectation was that the learner would also continue to refine the search strings and become more skilled in discovery learning techniques and able to find the most effective resources.

The following screen-shot resulted from clicking on the ‘la5: Insert html Meta tags for search engine positioning. ‘ node:

Figure 14 la5 learning activity

A typical search results page is shown in figure below, and can be seen to have identified a range of relevant resources:

Figure 15 Google search result

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The learners had the ability to further refine the searches by editing the individual search strings, shown in the box at the top of the search results page.

9.   Pilot 2: The Internet Technology unit trial

The objective of the pilot was to gain initial feedback on the effectiveness of:

1) the discovery learning pedagogy (unfamiliar to everyone used to conventional taught delivery)2) the quality of learning content3) the effectiveness of Ning as a Social based learning environment.

For this reason a group of ‘expert learners’ was assembled for the trial. All the participants were members of the academic, community and were in a position to provide experienced feedback.

The team of expert learners were asked to participate in the pilot and evaluation of the eTutor module 'Personal Computer and Internet Technology'. The pilot started on Monday 17th Nov. and will continued for 4 weeks until Monday 15th December 2008. The pilot team were able to use the ‘Social learning Environment’ SLE at http://etutor.ning.com anytime during that period and spend as much time as necessary to complete the Subject area they had chosen. The learners were asked to make full use of the ‘eDiscovery Map’ to complete the appropriate tasks.

The pilot invitation email (appendix 4) encouraged learners to make use of the ‘Pilot 1: Feedback from Informed Learners' forum to post their feedback (thoughts/feelings) regarding the learning experience of both the discovery learning method and social learning environment. The Expert learners were also encouraged to make use of ‘Subject forums’ to engage in 'collaborative learning'.

Figure 16 Pilot 2 forums

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Six expert learners actively participated in the first pilot study. The invitation emails clearly highlighted the availability of forums for the learners to use. The 'Learning strategy' including appropriate use of the learning environment tools was clearly displayed on the homepage. The original strategy requested learners to utilise the blog tool and under the privacy settings to select JUST ME under 'Who can view this post?', thereby securing the privacy of the submission. On reflection peer reviewed work allows other learners to gain knowledge and skills by reviewing past submissions. The area of e-Assessment using this environment requires further investigation*. 

10.   Pilot Outcomes, Activity & Feedback

Pilot feedback was obtained from Forums, Blog posts (submission feedback), and post pilot questionnaire.

After the feedback from the pilot is presented the report will conclude with a summary of user feedback, lessons learned and plans for improvement in the three key areas of (learning strategy), provision of learning resources and learning environment design.

The first pilot (4 weeks: Mon. 17th Nov. to Mon. 15th Dec.) tested the 'Internet Technology' Unit of the Module with a group of 'Expert learners', a selected sample with existing Technology and Teaching experience capable of providing constructive feedback regarding the 'discovery learning' approach applied within the 'Social Learning environment'.

Learners were advised to post questions related to the discovery learning activiaties 'Tasks' in the 'Subject' Forums. Learners were required to complete a set of learning activities in order to complete a subject area. Forums were used to provide an asynchronous interactive supportive medium between learner and Tutor. Forums were divided relative to each Subject area, allowing the tutor to organise learner questions/feedback and responses, unlike traditional question and answer sessions that often take place via email or outside the lecture/tutorial/classroom, this facility holds all questions and responses allowing the entire cohort to view and gain knowledge from this persistent resource.

A free Web 2.0 survey tool was utilized (http://www.freeonlinesurveys.com/ ) the "free account allows you to create a survey of up to 20 questions and receive up to 50 responses over a 10 day period". For more information please visit: http://www.freeonlinesurveys.com/faq.asp. The ‘feedback form’ is located in appendix 3.

10.1 User feedback – (P) Problems & Solutions:

P1: Email invitation to join the course and Log-in problem: [DONE]ISSUE: "The Ning login insists on me using an ‘invitation to join’ link in your email before it will let me in. The link you gave is to the normal login page which does not permit entry to the etutor site." SOLUTION: Use 'Invitation Link' from the 'Network Privacy' area within the invitation email: http://etutor.ning.com/?xgi=i0DyifBPlease see Appendix 6 'create a private network' for illustrated instructions. 

P2: Learner unable to find learning material for uIT:sIW:la2 using Pre-defined strings: [Solution 2 & 3 INCOMPLETE] ISSUE: Received first submission for the 'uIT: How the Internet works' subject area, learner reported finding it difficult to find the correct learning resources using the 'Pre-defined Google search strings'.  SOLUTION 1: Google search box incorporated onto the mainpage directly underneath the eDiscovery Map, Learning Strategy updated,  learners notified via email.SOLUTION 2: Creating effective search strings is an essential part of Discovery learning, creating these for learners

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could be disempowering and reduces the discovery learning skill set that could be acquired from this activity. As a result the  'Pre-defined Google search strings' could be removed for Pilot 2. SOLUTION 3: Essential learning resources (such as offline documents, links to web content, articles, book chapters) can be recommended by the Tutor under each la node to ensure the learners review 'Essential & Recommended' sources of information. Where appropriate add learning resources as attachments on la nodes and add web links underneath 'la' description.SOLUTION 4: Use CSE to ensure learners receive search results that contain appropriate websites. The importance of using CSEs became apparent as a result of this feedback in Pilot study 2.

Tutor note: “Task 1 it seems you were able to acquire all the information needed from the eMap, task 2 you were not. You included some very useful feedback for me in your submission. As I have stated on the PILOT forum I will encourage learners to use their own search criteria in addition to the eDiscovery Map, hopefully this will give the learners more freedom and empowerment, an appropriate mind-set, to go beyond the eMap and find all required information to complete the tasks.”

P3: Discovery learning skills: [ DONE ] ISSUE: Guidance is required to support the learners development of effective discovery learning skills.SOLUTION 1: Update the 'Learning and Teaching strategy' to encourage learners to utilse key words from the learning activities to find appropriate learning resources to succesfully accomplish each la. This approach will allow the learner to develop the ability to create effective search strings in addition to the eDiscovery Map.

P4: Front-page too long [DONE]ISSUE: "front-page too long"SOLUTION 1: re-organise the frontpage content management box model, make greater use of the side columns to allow for a more user-friendly and efficient layout.SOLUTION 2: Use the HTML DOM overflow property set to scroll, to reduce the visible length of the 'Introduction and Learning strategy' on the frontpage.A vertical scroll bar can be used by the user to view content.

Code: <div style="width:500px; height:350px; overflow: scroll> ... content ... </div>

Figure 17 Cross browser compatibility

ref: QuirksMode.org is a free website that gives browser compatibility information.

Figure 18 Learning strategy scroll box

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P5: Task completion timescales: [DONE]ISSUE: "Even though the timescale given on the mind map was 1-2hrs I easily spent 3-4 hours”. The Tutor suspected the 'learning activity' timescales were unrealistic for leaners new to the subject area, the feedback confrms this, very useful.SOLUTION: Review task completion timescales on all subject areas for the Internet Technology Unit. 

P6: Submission guidelines: [SOLUTION 1 & 2 INCOMPLETE]ISSUE 1: "One thing that did pose a problem was the lack of structure for the submission of work, guidelines surrounding number of words for the report/essay would be useful and this can also have an effect on the depth of knowledge the learner would show in the final submitted piece of work, as I wasn’t sure of how much detail to go into.”SOLUTION 1: In addition to 'timecale', set 'word-limit' for each Subject area report.ISSUE 2: “Also some idea of marking criteria would be useful so that the user could self analyse the work before submission.”SOLUTION 2: Add a Grading criteria note for each Subject area on the eDiscovery learning map and forum subject area. Could use generic grading criteria and include within the learning strategy.

P7: Glossary & Definitions: [INCOMPLETE]ISSUE 1: “The possible use of a glossary of key terms that should be understood when the learner has completed the task.”, “internet speak is a language in intself and a newcomer to this is like to be confused. I suggest a glossary of terms be given to the student before they start the exercise.”ISSUE 2: “there was a problem with definitions or multiple definitions of things related to the internet e.g. host address”.SOLUTION: Add 'Glossary of terms' node (definitions from Wiki), underneath the bolded subject area assessment report/activity.NOTE: The 'How the web works' subject area requires the user to define key Internet terminology, providing a detailed glossary would spoon-feed the learner and possibility reduce engagement with the elearning discovery pedagogy and technology. This issue requires further reflection.

P8: Site Layout: [DONE]ISSUE: "One comment about the e-tutor Ning site is that I think the forum and blogs should be below the Module Information and mind map.”BACKGROUND: The forum and blogs were temporarily moved above the Module Information and mind map several weeks after the pilot began assuming all learners had adequately reviewed the modules introduction, in order to stimulate greater social and collaborative learning by making the forums/blogs more accessible and point of focus on site-load. It makes perfect sense to locate the forums/bloga underneath the eDiscovery Map as learners will want to review the discovery learning activities  before collaborating in the forums.SOLUTION: Move forums/blogs underneath the eDiscovery Map.

P9: eDiscovery Map : [DONE]ISSUE: “On the e-learning map I cannot see all of the diagram”

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SOLUTION 1: Instructions added to the eDiscovery learning box informing the user of the ability to drag the map around to view all areas.SOLUTION 2: Hyperlink added to the Map alowing the user to view full-screen.

P10: Introduction for each Subject Area : [INCOMPLETE]ISSUE:  “an introduction to the principles of web design ... reasons for creating a website ... the skills required to facilitate effective communications through web pages etc.”SOLUTION 1: An introduction to each 'subject area' could be provided through a summary of foundational concepts, including essential learning resources (web resources, books, journals) that provide guidance. Utilize Module Specification document and online resources such as wiki to provide information.

P11: Bookmarking search results. [INCOMPLETE]ISSUE:  “Google search engine located below eDiscovery Map ...  bookmark links when accessed through the window.”SOLUTION: Research methods for bookmarking search results, one solution could be to require students to create a URL Map for each Subject area.

P12: Re-word Web Design task/learning activity. [DONE]ISSUE:  Regarding the Web Design subject-area task 2: “the decision on how many pages to include seemed fairly arbitrary unless it arose from a previous design exercise where the purpose, scope and intended audience for the website were planned and described.“SOLUTION: Re-word the first learning activity of the We Design subject area to include site concept and audience reflection and research.

P13: Enhance Social features of the Learning environment. [INCOMPLETE]ISSUE:  Increase Community features to enhance Social learning and learning through collaboration and fun. Intention is to implement facebook like features which many students/population currently use for recreational activity. SOLUTION: Utilise OpenSocial Application in the Ning environment. Such as:- BuddyPoke: Express yourself! Hug, kiss, tickle, or punch your friends with your own personalized 3D avatar.- Emote: Choose an emotion below to show how you're feeling!- MyMiniLife: show off your style using music, pictures, and videos. Impress your friends by leaving them sticky notes and gifts. You can even share your home on your homepage or profile.- Twitter Tracker: Track mentions of your favorite terms across Twitter.

P14: Mind-map star diagram could create confusion. [INCOMPLETE]ISSUE:  Placing ‘Subject area’ nodes in a non-sequential order could create confusion. SOLUTION: Using the mapping software to create a structured sequential vertical list of subject areas may assist the student by removing the decision-making responsibly of actually choosing where to start the learning process. For example a ‘clock structure’ could be used.

P15: Discovery learning guidance & Introductory Videos. [INCOMPLETE]ISSUE:  “More guidance needed, perhaps, on the discovery learning approach as this will not be familiar to most learners.” SOLUTION: Create introductory videos: (1) Introduction to Module learning strategy (webcam) (2) How to use the eDiscovery learning Map (camtasia) (3) How to use MyPage (camtasia) (4) How to reference (camtasia, use small guide on ning site under Notes tab) (5) How to use Social features (6) How to use Blog & Forums.

10.2 Learners work

Six expert learners actively participated in the first pilot study, 4 completed the learning activates for their subject areas, which was a good outcome given the nature of the pilot study, the unfamiliar methodology and environment, and reduced motivational levels for participation during December. For the purposes of this pilot a free online survey tool was utilized to gather feedback (http://www.freeonlinesurveys.com/ ). It is envisaged ‘real learners’ would be more motivated to complete the learning activities, driven by their original intention to achieve a qualification/certificate for employment prospects or simply personal interest in the subject area, and would therefore have higher levels of motivation/focus, and submission rates.

One Expert Learner’s experience is documented below:

Learner experience: For both tasks I began by looking at the web pages provided by the tuned Google search

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engine that the mind map takes the learner to. I then followed any further links, web pages, videos etc provided by the suggested web pages. Once I had the main body of knowledge I would then use Google.com, yahoo etc to search for further evidence and ‘cross reference’ the knowledge against other websites providing the same information. This is the method I used to self certify that the information was correct.

It was then a case of answering the questions asked in both Tasks.

Even though the timescale given on the mind map was 1-2hrs I easily spent 3-4 hours on the two tasks combined. This was due to the fact that I would click on hyperlinks within the suggested web pages to dig deeper into the subject, as well as using google to search for more specific areas related to the tasks. This shows discovery learning has taken place at least with me and this would be of great benefit for ‘real learners’.

I have produced answers to both tasks, not sure if you want them but they are below. One thing that did pose a problem was the lack of structure for the submission of work, guidelines surrounding number of words for the report/essay would be useful and this can also have an effect on the depth of knowledge the learner would show in the final submitted piece of work, as I wasn’t sure of how much detail to go into.

This would not necessarily aid submission of work in a video/screen capture or diagrammatic way but would give a guide to ‘how long’ the piece of work should be. Also some idea of marking criteria would be useful so that the user could self analyse the work before submission. The possible use of a glossary of key terms that should be understood when the learner has completed the task, or a wiki allowing students to post/amend key vocabulary, terms abbreviations etc.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ‘discovery learning’ and wish I had put aside more time to look at the other 2 areas within the Internet Technology mind map. One comment about the e-tutor Ning site is that I think the forum and blogs should be below the Module Information and mind map, possibly use a link on the side of the page if this is possible. (personal preference).

Attachments Etutor assignment Final.docx

11. Custom Search Engines & e-learning Discovery Map:

Google’s customized search platform makes it easy to create a custom search engine by using the Google CSE wizard. The figure below shows the CSE Control panel: for the Web Design ‘subject area’:

Figure 19 Google Custom Search Engine

Google currently provides a script to use to insert the CSE into a webpage, unfortunately it is not possible to insert a ‘script’ into the MindMap. However it is possible to extract the CSE URL and insert the web address onto a mindmap node.

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Original CSE URL string: http://www.google.com/cse?cx=013485781040222285740%3Aissydzq-72i&ie=UTF-8&q=testsearch&sa=Search

By using the CSE from a webpage (afer the script from Google has been inserted) we are able to strip off the end search criteria: [ &ie=UTF-8&q=testsearch&sa=Search ] and retrieve the CSE Search Engine string for use within the Mind Map: http://www.google.com/cse?cx=013485781040222285740%3Aissydzq-72i

Figure 20 Google custom search box

Figure 21 CSE URL on Mind Map

Another benefit of inserting the URL onto a node is that the search engine will appear on a new page leaving the SLE in the background for continued use. Currently, when the google CSE script is embedded in the SLE (any webpage) the search loads into the same page removing the user’s focus from the SLE and learning activity.

CSE can be used to increase the quality of a search result for a particular topic, this could be a Module as a Whole or a single learning activity, for the purposes of this test, a CSE was created for each of the ‘Internet Technology’ Subject areas. Learners can discover learning resources by clicking on the 'Arrows' located at the end of each node on the ‘eDiscovery Map’:The center node contains a Google search, Subject areas contain a link to a 'Custom Google Search Engine' and 'Learning Activity' nodes contain 'Pre-defined Google Search strings'. Alternatively the learner can use the google CSE box on the left of the eDiscovery map:

Figure 22 CSE within eDiscovery Map.

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CSEs can be added to any level of the e-learning discovery map from center node to individual learning activities. CSEs can also be added on the frontpage on the Ning SLE, figure 21 below displays the CSE underneath the Map.

Figure 23 CSE used on Ning SLE frontpage.

This method enables the learner to easily and clearly view the learning activities and utilize the CSE on the same page, the visibility of both ‘la learning activity’ and ‘CSE box’ enables the learner to utilise ‘key words’ from the ‘la’ to construct an effective search string to locate relevant learning resources.

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The 3 discovery learning methods can be seen below. All three discovery methods can be included in a single Map:1) Google Search (2) Custom Google Search (3) Pre-defined Google Search string.

Figure 24 eDiscovery Map

11.1. Search Method effectiveness test

To test the effectiveness of each ‘Discovery learning method’ a single learning activity was chosen for the experiment.

The learning activity is from the Internet Technology Unit, Introduction to Web Design subject area, ‘Production’ learning activity stage 2:

la1: Create a webpage using xHTML, which includes a Title and an Introduction. Choose an appropriate font,

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font color, size and a background color your webpage.

Next a relevant search string was constructed based on the words used in the ‘la’ to obtain the data/results from Google, in order to compare the relevance of each ‘Search result list’ returned from each ‘Discovery learning method’. Search string: ‘Create a webpage using xHTML’.

Each search result is deemed relevant or not-relevant depending on the content of the webpage. If the link contains practical information on the first click that is directly relevant to the learning activity and will provide the learner with information to complete the task then the link/resource is deemed relevant R, otherwise non-relevant NR. The number of R and NR links are added together to provide a comparative numerical variable.

11.2 Test 1: Standard Google search:

NR: Web Page and XHTML /HTML Editors

An XHTML/HTML editor lets you create a web page by inserting XHTML/HTML tags. ... creation pages where you can create your web page using a browser. ...www.build-your-website.co.uk/web-page-HTML-editors.htm - 18k - Cached - Similar pages -

NR: W3C XHTML2 Working Group Home Page

See also the page on our work on the next generation of Web forms, .... The document type definition is implemented using XHTML modules as defined in .... XHTML Modules and Markup Languages - How to create XHTML Family modules and ...www.w3.org/MarkUp/ - 60k - Cached - Similar pages -

NR: XHTML Tutorials, XHTML W3C Recommendations, Editors, Tools ...

Build Your Own Web Site the Right Way Using HTML & CSS .... How to create a simple (X)HTML page, how to add links and images; Everything you need to know ...websitetips.com/xhtml/ - Similar pages -

NR: Guide to web page production using xHTML and CSS

Web page production with xHTML and CSS (ebook) ... How to use the Save for Web command to optimise and export your images in one go; How to create a GIF ...www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-page-production-xhtml-css-worked-example1.php - 22k - Cached - Similar pages -

NR: Semantics, HTML, XHTML , and Structure - Semantics - Articles ...

14 Jul 2007 ... Helpful basics of HTML article on using the correct HTML markup for the task. ... How do I create a webpage with XHTML? ...brainstormsandraves.com/articles/semantics/structure/ - Similar pages -

NR: Free Web Templates: XHTML +CSS Templates for Building Web Pages

Use these free Web templates to create valid XHTML documents using CSS instead ... Once you have 3 columns on your Web page, getting the footer to display ...webdesign.about.com/od/websitetemplates/a/bl_layouts.htm - 28k - Cached - Similar pages -

R: How to create a valid XHTML webpage [Archive] - Web Hosting Talk

45 posts - Last post: 28 Aug 2008

[Archive] How to create a valid XHTML webpage Web Design and Content ... Using XHTML to serve HTML is tag soup. Browsers are designed to ...

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www.webhostingtalk.com/archive/index.php/t-227438.html - 34k - Cached - Similar pages -

NR: Learn to create Web pages using professional XHTML and CSS standards

In this six-lesson course, you'll learn to create Web sites—using XHTML to mark up the structure of the document, and CSS to dictate how each page element ...www.sessions.edu/courses/All_couses/xhtml_css.asp - 43k - Cached - Similar pages -

R: Building a basic webpage using XHTML - Altair Tech and Gaming

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NR: A List Apart: Articles: Using XHTML /CSS for an Effective SEO Campaign

We’re going to be focusing entirely on the benefits of using XHTML and CSS to show ... at 24px and bold green at the top of the page as the main title for your website. ... Using standards compliant methods to create highly readable, ...www.alistapart.com/articles/seo - 12k -

The standard Google search produced relevant links to the subject area, with 2 (out of 10) sites deemed relevant to the la i.e. a link that provided the practical information on the first click and without purchasing a book/ebook, many links guiding the user to commercial sites selling guides to learning how to use xhtml and CSS.

11.3 Test2: Google (CSE) Custom search engine:

A CSE was created for this specific la:

Figure 25 learning activity CSE

R: XHTML Web Design for Beginners - Part 2 [HTML & XHTML Tutorials]

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I have used bolding in the example XHTML throughout this article to make it easier for you to understand. ... Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 2nd Edition ... Learn How to Create Beautiful Web Sites ...www.sitepoint.com/article/xhtml-web-design-beginners-2/ - 36k - Cached

R: XHTML DTD

A DTD specifies the syntax of a web page in SGML; DTDs are used by SGML ... Reduce IT bottlenecks by allowing business users to create and edit Web content ... While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use ...www.w3schools.com/Xhtml/xhtml_dtd.asp - 26k - Cached

R: XHTML Web Design for Beginners - Part 2 [HTML & XHTML Tutorials]

I have a firm belief that the best way to create Web pages is to get your hands dirty ... and can make the actual size of the Web page file as small as possible. .... Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 2nd Edition ...www.sitepoint.com/article/xhtml-web-design-beginners-2/2/ - 40k - Cached

NR: XHTML HowTo

To convert a Web site from HTML to XHTML, you should be familiar with the XHTML ... to present data to their viewers using grids or simple HTML tables. ...www.w3schools.com/Xhtml/xhtml_howto.asp - 22k - Cached

R: XHTML Web Design for Beginners - Part 2 [HTML & XHTML Tutorials]

Have a go at using them to create a document and get used to creating XHTML documents. That's also the end of the first part of this article. Go to page: 1 ...www.sitepoint.com/article/xhtml-web-design-beginners-2/7/ - 42k - Cached

R: XHTML Syntax

To make your XHTML compatible with today's browsers, you should add an ... FREE Trial or Demo Web Content Manager Forms,Web Alerts,RSS ... HOME or Top of Page, Validate · Validate · W3C-WAI level A conformance icon ... While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use and privacy policy. ...www.w3schools.com/Xhtml/xhtml_syntax.asp - 26k - Cached

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R: XHTML - Why?

Reduce IT bottlenecks by allowing business users to create and edit Web ... While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use and ...www.w3schools.com/Xhtml/xhtml_why.asp - 25k - Cached

R: XHTML Web Design for Beginners - Part 2 [HTML & XHTML Tutorials]

Why build your first Website in HTML, when you can build it in XHTML? ... Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 2nd Edition · The Ultimate HTML Reference - HARD COVER ... Learn How to Create Beautiful Web Sites ...www.sitepoint.com/article/xhtml-web-design-beginners-2/4/ - 37k - Cached

NR: DELETED

The attributes listed below are standard and are supported by all XHTML tags, ... Reduce IT bottlenecks by allowing business users to create and edit Web ... HOME or Top of Page, Validate · Validate · W3C-WAI level A conformance icon ... While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use ...www.w3schools.com/Xhtml/xhtml_standardattributes.asp - 26k

The Custom Google search produced relevant links, with 8 (out of 10) search results deemed relevant. However several links were from the same tutorial websites.

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Websites were carefully selected for the CSE, largely based on industry/educational experience, also relevant sites were chosen from the top ten google page results. The same google search string was used from the previous standard Google search experiment.

11.4 Test3: Google refined search string:

This method uses the same technique as Test 1 (standard Google search) but with a refined google search string ‘basic xhtml tutorial’. The tutor chose this string after experimenting with many word searches, and found this to produce the most effective results. Apart from the acronym XHTML, the other words are not present within the original learning activity statement. A refined search string created by the tutor produces more effective results than a typical string based on the ‘la’ question.

R: XHTML Tutorial

8 pages, including introduction, differences from HTML, syntax, DTD, examples, validation, and a quiz. Also, reference pages provide lists of tags and ...www.w3schools.com/Xhtml/ - 21k - Cached - Similar pages -

R: XHTML Introduction

About This Tutorial. The next chapters of this tutorial will explain:. Why you should use XHTML; The syntax of XHTML; How W3Schools was converted to XHTML ...www.w3schools.com/xhtml/xhtml_intro.asp - 25k - Cached - Similar pages - More results from www.w3schools.com   »

NR: XHTML Tutorials » XHTML Basic 1.0 Tutorial » TipClique Tutorials

17 Sep 2006 ... XHTML Tutorials - This XHTML Basic - tutorial can be used for tag and attribute reference if you intend to make a website accessible for ...www.tipclique.com/tutorial/xhtml/xhtml-basic-10-tutorial/ - 29k - Cached - Similar pages -

R: CSS Tutorials HTML XHTML Tutorials Free Web Tools and Free Website ...

HTML XHTML Tutorials. introduction to HTML · basic HTML tags · HTML link code tutorial · HTML image code tutorial · HTML lists tutorial ...csshtmltutorial.com/ - 10k - Cached - Similar pages -

R: Openwave Developer Network - Support - XHTML Tutorial

After that, XHTML basic was defined to be a simplified version of XHTML which could be easily supported by PDAs, mobile phones and other portable devices. ...developer.openwave.com/dvl/support/documentation/guides_and_references/xhtml_tutorial/index.htm - 39k - Cached - Similar pages -

NR: Free Webmaster Help - Tutorials

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R: Nerd Paradise : Beginner's XHTML Tutorial : Part 1 - Basic XHTML ...

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R: the bitcastle † basic XHTML tutorial

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R: HTML Tutorial , XHTML Tutorial - NT22.COM

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The refined custom google search string produced relevant links to the subject area, with 7 (out of 10) search results deemed relevant to the la. There was only one repeat learning resource.

11.5 Test 4: Refined Custon Search Engine string:

R: XHTML Tutorial

8 pages, including introduction, differences from HTML, syntax, DTD, examples, validation, and a quiz. Also, reference pages provide lists of tags and ...www.w3schools.com/Xhtml/ - 21k - Cached

R: Introduction to HTML and XHTML - HTML XHTML code tutorial

Introduction to HTML and XHTML - HTML XHTML code tutorial. ... The following example is an example of a basic HTML document. Remember that the examples ...csshtmltutorial.com/csshtmltutorial-introductiontohtml.php - 11k - Cached

R: XHTML DTD

XHTML Tutorial. XHTML HOME · XHTML Introduction ... the DOCTYPE declaration; the <head> section; the <body> section. The basic document structure is: ...www.w3schools.com/Xhtml/xhtml_dtd.asp - 26k - Cached

R: Dave Raggett's Introduction to HTML

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www.w3schools.com/Xhtml/xhtml_syntax.asp - 26k - Cached

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The pre-defined custom google search produced relevant links to the subject area, with 10 (out of 10) search results deemed relevant to the la. Although several results were from the same tutorial sites, this occurrence was much less than the CSE method. Overall a greater variety of relevant results/sites and less repetition.

Overall analysis:

Search Engine Relevant links(out of 10)

Analysis

Test 1: Google Search

2 Using key words from the learning activity 2 (out of 10) sites were deemed relevant to the la i.e. a link that provided the practical information on the first click and without purchasing a book/ebook, many links guiding the user to commercial sites selling guides to learning how to use xhtml and CSS.

Test 2: CSE 8 Using the same search string 8 (out of 10) search results were deemed relevant. However several links were from the same tutorial websites. Websites were selected for the CSE based on industry experience, in addition the most relevant sites were chosen from the top ten google page results. The same google search string was used from the previous standard Google search experiment.

Test 3: Refined Search String

7 Using a refined search string 7 (out of 10) search results deemed relevant to the la. There was only one repeat learning resource.

Test 4: Refined CSE string

10 Using a refined search string with a CSE 10 (out of 10) search results were deemed relevant to the la. Although several results were from the same tutorial sites, this occurrence was much less than the CSE method. Overall a greater variety of relevant results/sites and less repetition.

In conclusion, based on this analysis using a refined search string with a CSE Custom Search Engine greatly increases the quality of the learning resources presented to the learner, and is the most effective discovery learning method tested in this experiment.

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12. Pilot 3 - Blended & Collaborative Learning:

Following the pilot 2 trial, it was invaluable to test and gain feedback from undergraduate learners. The opportunity was seized to test the methods and technologies with two groups of Year 2 undergraduate students studying BSc Computer Games development & BA Creative Games design.

Again the objective of the pilot was to gain learner feedback on the effectiveness of the discovery learning methods, the quality of learning content retrieved, the e-learning discovery and resource Map and the effectiveness of Ning as a Social learning environment. The situation also provided an ideal opportunity to test the elearning discovery Map’s ability to act as a repository for electronic files.

PILOT 3: Blended Learning – Web Games: http://webgamez.ning.com/ Tutor: James Williams.Social Learning environment: Ning Discovery Learning method: Collaborative eTutorial Map with Custom Google Search Engine.Learning content: Web Games design and development.Feedback method: Forum and online questionnaire.

The pilot started during the middle of February and will continue until the end of the Semester May 2009. For the purposes of this evaluation report which is being completed towards the end of March, the learners were asked to make full use of the Social Learning environment and eDiscovery Map to complete several learning activities, and a questionnaire was distributed on Wednesday 04th March 2009.

Figure 26 WebGamez Ning SLE

Student “haha yea its me in the picture, think this is a really good idea, own social network as a class really helps each other out with things,”

Figure 27 WebGamez e-learning Discovery Map

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Figure 28 WebGamez ‘e-learning Discovery & Resource Map’

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Figure 26 above illustrates how the mapping software can also be used to store files and used as a learning resource repository in addition to a discovery learning tool.

Figure 29 Collaborative tutorial map

Map change notificationHi James, The mind map 'Web & Mobile Game Development Tutorials' was recently modified by Rob Leight. Click the link below to view the updated map: http://www.mindmeister.com/maps/show/15813491?view=changes Cheers,The MindMeister Team

As previously mentioned the Web 2.0 aspect of Mindmeister is it’s ability to allow multiple users to collaborate on a map in real-time whilst also allowing skype conference calls. The opportunity to test this feature arose during Pilot 3 when a grop of learners were asked to work on a Map together, to create a Map of web learning resources for the entire group to use/update throughout the semester. The box above shows a notification received by the tutor from mindmeister stating the map was being modified by a student. By clicking on the link shown above the tutor was able to view the learner modifying the map in real-time, and participate. Mindmeister also provides a feature that allows you to go back in time to view the different states of the map and review it’s evolution and if required roll back to a previous version.

12.1 Collaborative Learning

Problem: The ‘Web & Mobile development’ module is shared between two degree courses BSc Computer Games development & BA Creative Games design, the module allows both groups to build computer games for the Web, in the process to utilize, synthesize and enhance both their design and development skills. In previous years there have been some difficulties with mixing and teaching the groups together, as their level of technical and design abilities are very different. This year, due to the volume of students, the decision was made to teach them separately, but bring them together for group projects and use Web 2.0 Social networks to enable collaboration.

Solution: Web 2.0 Social Networks has successfully facilitated asynchronous collaborative learning, not only have the students learned a lot of skills from each other, also team working reduced personal barriers towards working with others within the same group and students from different groups with very different approach/outlook on game development. As a facilitator of learning it was wonderful to witness the barriers dissolve, especially in-cases where there was pre-conceived animosity. Transformative learning, Professional development, Attitudinal healing, students began to respect each other’s skill sets, learn from each other, and worked together as a team to achieve their common goal.

Setting group learning activities as Competitions stimulated teams to compete for prizes which enhanced learning. The image below shows a BSc and BA Game development competition.

Figure 30 Competition

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12.2 Transformative Learning & Learning culture

The image below shows the ‘Features’ modification screen within the site ‘Manage’ tab. The column on the left side shows the features that are not being used in the network (apart from Text box as there can be multiple uses of this feature) and the column on the right displays the current features and layout of the front-page of the network.

The tutor chose not to include the Video, Music or Photos screen in order to establish a ‘learning culture’. Some students may prefer to leave video blog entries rather than write text based blog entries, as a result, a Video-log could be enabled for post-graduate or professional (e.g. CPD) courses, however at undergraduate level whilst the learners are developing as responsible and professional (self-disciplined) individuals, in order to assist the learners to develop and integrate these personality traits, the features which may distract the learners such as Music were not enabled.

Figure 31 Deciding on Social Network Features

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12.3 Post monitoring

The relevancy of blog/forum posts to the learning activities was approx. 60% when the Social Network was first introduced to the students. However after careful monitoring and politely requesting students to delete irrelevant comments, the relevancy increased to 100%. The need to monitor clearly reduced over time, this role can also be passed on to responsible students ‘Community support reps‘, especially useful if there is a large group of learners.

Figure 32 Learning Support Team

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When the Tutor can see discussions (related to a learning objective) are progressing in a respectful way, the tutor can choose to stop following the posts if the amount of email notifications becomes too high. After all this is only a communication method and the tutor does not need to be aware of all the discussions taking place only that the collaborative learning is being carried out amicably (good-naturedly).

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Figure 33 Ning Groups

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12.4. Social Networking features:

One feature of the SLE users wanted to see more of was the Buddypoke application. Poking is a common feature on many social sites. According to Dave Westwood* the lead developer of BuddyPoke the application underlines a universal human need to socialize. BuddyPoke is an advanced online Interactive Friend communication application available to all Social Networks on OpenSocial that enables users to customize their own 3D avatars with a huge selection of poking actions, each with game-like animation and interactivity.

* http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/casestudies/BuddyPoke.html

Figure 29 below shows the buddypoke application being used on the WebGamez Social learning environment. The image shows a student’s page, he challenged the Tutor to a Sword fight.

Figure 34 Buddypoke

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12.5 Learner feedback:

For the purpose of this pilot a free Web 2.0 survey tool was utilized (http://www.surveymonkey.com/) the free account allows you to create a survey of up to 10 questions and receive up to 100 responses, to collate and analyse over an unlimited time period.

Figure 35 Pilot 3 Survey response

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80% of respondents found the Social Network easy to use after only brief exposure during tutorial sessions over a 2 week period.

85% of learners thought the use of Social network enhanced their learning.

User feedback: YER ITS BARE GOOD LOL. It's easier than ….Blackboard, and its good cos we can help each other easily using

the forums and shizz It is an accessable source for tutorials used in lessons, making it easier to do work at home n/a Most definately. I think that resources like this are vital in not only holding content that can be accessed from

home but creating a learning community enviroment, since if your all learning together your more motivated and less likely to procrastinate

Haven't used it much yet.

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BuddyPoke, good funEasily communicate with friends and Lecturer.Video and links to Tutorialsknowing what i have to do next for my course workThe chance for students to be informed on a regular basis with updated work activities and tasks for the moment as well as for the weeks ahead.Ability to put tutorials on the page and look at tutorials others … have left there.more visually appealing than blackboard, good to see what other people are doing - inspires competition, user friendly - tutorials and features all in one placethe collabritive aspect is really easy to useAble to access anywhere Internet access exists, enables asynchronous learning.communication made easier forums for finding tutorials etcHave not had a chance to test it.The messaging system and forums, its so easy to keep in contact with my classmates, and ask for help or see how their getting on with their assignments, and even sometimes helping them. I also really like accessing the content on there, since its easy to access initially and helps a lotChatting.Blog, reminds me to do work each week.

.it's Social.commnuity, more informal, productive, less formal Easy to usethe colour. mmmm yummyBeing in constant contact with class mates and lectures.Buddypoke.user friendlynessthe ease of which you can talk to peopleSee above, makes it easier to work with other students and see how much progress they are making......its socialAbility to communicate with others on the courseThe forums probably, its a good place to discuss assignments and seek help or general guidance.Easy to talk to others on advice about work.learn new thingsblog, enhance skills.

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work. n/ae-mail in boxThe fact its a social network on the net, I have a habit of not checking up on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, for I forget that they are there for they dont appear physical/real at all to me.The "Learning" Partnothing reallyN/Aall the emails i receive from the site, not neededthe fact it spams emails at me when someone so much as looks at my profilesI have got used to the structure of blackboard Nothing really, its all good.N/A

85% of learners found the eDiscovery Map easy to use.

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organised tutorials.very easy to use and access resources.Ability to visualise all module topics in one view.-shrug- all relevant tutorials in one place which can be expanded in a visually appealing waythe fact that its a mind map, making it really easy to find what you want in an aesthetically pleasing wayAllows you to see what is at the link before you clickit.....tutorials againDownloadable tutorialsThe tutorial on the whole.tutorials

n/ano.Alerts and raising awareness of features such as the tutorial/eDiscovery Map etc. MOAR BUDDYPOKE.not that i can think of right nowN/A....yes new features would be awesomemmm nocreate a favorites link so I can access it quicker. At the moment I am put off by the time to log in from blackboard Not reallyvideo chat.

12.6 Feedback evaluation

Question 2, SLE Usability:80% of learners found the Social Network easy to use after only brief exposure during tutorial sessions over a 2 week period.

Question 3, Enhanced learning: 85% of learners thought the use of Social network enhanced their learning. "Most definately. I think that resources like this are vital in not only holding content that can be accessed from

home but creating a learning community environment, since if your all learning together your more motivated and less likely to procrastinate"

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Question 4, most useful Social Network features: > regular contact and clarification of learning activities helped students to stay focused. "knowing what i have to do next for my course work" "The chance for students to be informed on a regular basis with updated work activities and tasks for the moment

as well as for the weeks ahead." "Blog, reminds me to do work each week."

> Learners enjoyed the use of collaboration tools such as blogs, forums and maps to support each other through the learning activities in an open professional and friendly community: "Ability to put tutorials on the page and look at tutorials others … have left there." "more visually appealing than blackboard, good to see what other people are doing - inspires competition, user

friendly - tutorials and features all in one place" "the collabritive aspect is really easy to use" "Able to access anywhere Internet access exists, enables asynchronous learning." "communication made easier " "forums for finding tutorials etc" "The messaging system and forums, its so easy to keep in contact with my classmates, and ask for help or see

how their getting on with their assignments, and even sometimes helping them. I also really like accessing the content on there, since its easy to access initially and helps a lot"

"Chatting."

Question 5, learners favourite SLE features: include the informal but productive community nature, ease of use and use friendliness, social features such as Buddypoke, easy top communicate with others, "commnuity, more informal, productive, less formal " "Easy to use" "Being in constant contact with class mates and lectures." "Buddypoke." "user friendlyness" "the ease of which you can talk to people” "See above, makes it easier to work with other students and see how much progress they are making." ".its social" " Ability to communicate with others on the course" " The forums probably, its a good place to discuss assignments and seek help or general guidance." "Easy to talk to others on advice about work."

Question 6, least favourite aspect of the SLE:Very positive feedback such as "nothing really", "Nothing really, its all good." the one issue that several learner's commented on was the amount of email notifications they received when groups they are members of updated discussion forums etc. This issue was easily resolved by showing students how to change the email settings. In future extra training will be provided at the start/induction. Most learners due to their familiarity with sit such as facebook and myspace required no initial training on how to use the network. Although one learner did comment that they "I have got used to the structure of blackboard". Hopefully blackboard's new community system will allow the 'Social' benefits this report confirms to be enjoyed by both students and tutors alike. One student didn't like the "work." : )

Question 7, eDiscovery Map usability: 85% of learners found the eDiscovery Map easy to use.

Question 8, Learners found the most useful features of the eDiscovery Map:> mainly the provision of tutorials which are provided in both file and weblink format. This response shows the value learner's place on receiving information/tutorials from educators, from this perspective discovery learning may be most valuable to supplement learning activities and traditional handouts/ehandouts.> the visual nature and ability to view all topics in one view.> Easy to use. "organised tutorials.", "tutorials again", "Downloadable tutorials", "The tutorial on the whole.", "tutorials" "very easy to use and access resources." "Ability to visualise all module topics in one view." "all relevant tutorials in one place which can be expanded in a visually appealing way" "the fact that its a mind map, making it really easy to find what you want in an aesthetically pleasing way" "Allows you to see what is at the link before you clickit.

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12.7 WebGamez Feedback - Problems & Solutions:

P1: Too many email notifications: [INCOMPLETE]ISSUE: "The Ning login insists on me using an ‘invitation to join’ link in your email before it will let me in. The link you gave is to the normal login page which does not permit entry to the etutor site." BACKGROUND: Customize email notifications. After a user logs on to Ning, you can change your settings by clicking on the My Settings link in the upper-right hand corner box. Users can change email notifications by clicking on the Email link under the Settings menu on the left. By default, users get email notifications when people leave comments for them, but they can also choose to turn off those email notifications. SOLUTION: Create a short Video tutorial showing users how to change this setting.

Figure 36 Ning E-mail settings

Ultimately the Web 2.0 Social Network provided a solution and allowed for asynchronous communication and collaborative learning within individual student groups and between multiple groups of students with mixed abilities.

16. Google vs. Google CSE:

Using a forum the students were also asked to compare a standard Google search with Google CSE, here is some of the feedback:

Just tried out the inbuilt google filter search feature on here and compared it to the ordinary google search, this inbuilt search seems to cut out alot of the spam and unnecessary results, thus making it more efficient and easier

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on the eye.

The custom search engine is more specific than basic google search engine

Google search: I feel that this set of search results is not very accurate. It seems to give a general overview of social networking (linking to an explaination on social networking from wikipedia), and then some appropriate search results that actually revolve around the creation of a social network site mixed in with some inappropriate ones; for example, giving advice on the creation of a social networking site outside of a technical context – such as tips on making your social network popular that are geared towards already existing networks. While this could potentially be interesting and useful to someone who's looking into creating their own social network, they're not true to the very important word “create” in the search string, indicating that the social network does not yet exist yet to be improved by the tips offered. Being as English is an ambiguous language, even for a human who can differentiate between tone and the context of certain words in a sentence, it is to be expected that in a completely general search about a very specific subject on the entirity of the web, results are unlikely to carry a very high degree of accuracy. I believe that this has been echoed in the search results and they are probably only 30% accurate in terms of being exactly what we are looking for.Google Custom Search: This set of results appears to be more accurate than the first. There is still some emphasis on advice regarding existing networks, however, the search results seem to be far more targeted and with considerably more emphasis on the creation of the network. It is still not perfectly accurate, but is considerably better than the standard google search, far better taking into account the technical context.

Google CSE is better, but upon further look into the CSE it is capped at 1,000 Results

Blog entry: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-039-Only-1000-Results-From-Now-On-039-64666.shtml

Google: 'Only 1000 Results From Now On!'Google is the best search engine on the Internet and this is only a good thing when we think that it can find any information you require. Obviously, the search technology has a huge database with websites so searching for common words such as 'car' or 'software' should return you millions of webpages. Well,

not exactly because the Mountain View company implemented a very efficient system (sometimes) that will limit the number of the results at 1000. Why, you'll ask. Because Google considers that the best results that match your query should be published on the first page of the SERP, meaning in the first ten weblinks.

"Google provides only the 1000 most relevant search results for a query, even when there are more than 1000 matches. (Due to variations in our estimates, we may, on occasion, display slightly less than 1000.) We try to make your search experience so efficient that it's not necessary to scroll past the first ten listings," Google mentioned about this restriction.

"We understand that some users would like to see more than 1000 results, but this is fairly rare, and it would heavily tax our system to provide these results for everyone," it added.

As you can see, there's not much to do to remove this limitation because Google activates this function by default and it doesn't allow you to change it. However, I don't find this restriction as something very annoying because it is supposed that Google is able to find whatever you're searching for and include it in the first results. And 1000 results are more than enough, seriously.

However, Google might provide less than 1000 results if the company is required to remove some results but we can't talk about a huge removal of results that may affect the users of the search technology.

ref: By Bogdan Popa, Security and Search Engines Editor5th of September 2007, 10:07 GMT

17. Further experimentation using Maps

Mind maps are used throughout many different areas of society such as Education and Business for many different purposes, the key strength that these maps provide is the ability to organize, to organize practically anything. The availability to create maps online, for free, and provide a central and collaborative mode of use, coupled with storage and word processing abilities, allows one person or multiple people to structure and organize anything, from lesson

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plans or learning resources to meetings and minutes, to name but a few.The sub-sections below list some further experiments using the online mapping software undertaken after the Pilot 3 study.

17.1 Maps and VLEs:

The Map can very easily be inserted into Blackboard by clicking on the ‘Toggle HTML Source Mode’ view in BB’s Text editing box and pasting the iframe code from Mindmeister:

Step 1 above, using Mindmeister click on the ‘Share Map’ bottom left corner.

Step 2, copy the Embed code, the embed code consists of a html iframe tag and relevant attributes.

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Step 3 and 4, in Blackboard click on the Toggle HTML icon, and paste the iframe embed code into the HTML source code box. “IFrame (from Inline Frame) is an HTML element which makes it possible to embed an HTML document inside another HTML document.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFrame

Voila, the Mind Map can now be used in Blackboard.

17.2 Academic Maps (Course, Community, Student)

Interactive Learning Maps such as those provided freely by Mindmeister give tutors and learners the ability to organize their academic lives. This section provides several examples/ideas of how this technology can be utilized within an academic environment.

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17.2.1 Course Map:

Model a course using multi-layered maps. For example a Course Director may decide to create a map of a course, the first map a student views would simply contain the name of the course at the center branching off to display 3 more nodes simply containing text descriptions Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3. When the user clicks one of these nodes another Map loads on the screen displaying all the modules for that degree course, again the user can click a module node and the module map will be displayed on the screen, this map administered by a module co-coordinator can contain the module specification document at center, surrounded by nodes illustrating the lesson plan (containing learning resources) for the semester or academic year. Year 1, 2 and 3 nodes can contain Assessment Schedules. This is a very easy to use, easy to create, central and interactive resource for students, and can very easily be integrated into any VLE/SLE.

17.2.2 Tutor Map or Central Community Map:

The Tutor can create a central Community Map that include course documents such as Timetable, Assessment schedule, and a structured lesson plan for the semester using Learning Activities 1-14, for example:

The module structure above provides an easy to use graphical and interactive interface for learners to access and engage with learning activities and resources.

This graphical illustration of course could be created more traditionally in a simple shopping list format, the central column text box on the front-page of the Ning site (or a traditional Blackboard list of folders / items) can be used for this. However the list quickly becomes quite long and would push other important aspects of the community system out-of-view. Student’s complemented on the ability of Ning to provide a dashboard interface similar to iGoogle where they could see an overview of all applications on the front-page.

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Whereas this method does not provide the interactivity, flexibility, graphical or ability to add resources to individual items, it is a more traditional but yet still an effective solution.

In Sept. 2008 Ning released a new Tab manager feature that allows ‘Network administrators’ to create new Navigation tabs and new pages. It is now possible to create a new Navigation tab and a whole page to display a list of learning activities to the learner (see above). For more information regarding the tab manager please visit: http://blog.ning.com/2008/08/a-new-tab-manager-early-next-week.html

17.2.3 Feedback Map (eAssessment)

Mapping technology can also be used as an effective assessment reporting mechanism. For example using Ning a tutor could create a new tab/page to embed a student ‘Feedback Map’, this allow’s the tutor to organize, structure and store student feedback, and provides students with easy access to summative feedback. The ability to write notes or attach documents allows the tutor to provide qualitative feedback. The ‘Feedback Map’ could also be used to organize, store, and provide formative feedback throughout the course. A node would be created for each student and sub-nodes for each assessed exercise, the tutor could provide feedback on each node for each student. Of course the community tools such as forums, blogs and mail/message system allow the tutor to provide informal feedback throughout the duration of the learner’s time on the course.

17.2.4 Student Map / e-portfolio:

Each individual learner can utilize this technology to organize their learning time and resources for each individual module/subject or course as a whole. The figure below presents a ‘Student Module Map’ and illustrates some example nodes which can be used to organize and store Assignments, Learning activities, Favorites list, Weekly blog, TDD, Tutorials, Notes etc… for a single module.

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Publish Map and copy the embed code:

Paste into ‘My Page’ on Ning:

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Voila (Student Map on Student page within Ning):

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Mapping technology can be used by learners to create and organize an e-portfolio.

17.2.5 Map Notes:

Mindmeister gives you the ability to create notes for each node. This facility has many uses such as lesson notes and reflective learning logs for the learner, or course or learning activity descriptions for the tutor. The figure below illustrates a blog entry, this message will be inserted onto a single node. However this method is not as contributive (from a community perspective) or collaborative (from a community learning perspective) as a blog post on the network, which allows all community members to see and learn from the entry.

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It would be possible to create an entire Learning community simply using Maps, for example a Tutor could create a central Map with either Student names as nodes branching off central or a single node with Student name branches. Each student could then create their own Map and the tutor could link them very easily to the central Map. Each student could then provide ‘read only’ access to other students and ‘write’ access to the tutor to leave assessment feedback. Of course the mapping system currently lacks forums for discussion, but this model is an interesting Web 2.0 Map-only solution. At this point it is clear that Maps have got to head a bit too much : ) but nevertheless an interesting

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method to reflect on. Currently the mapping software does not provide community collaborative tools, as a result utilizing both: a Web 2.0 Social Network and Maps provide a free, easy and effective ‘Social discovery e-learning’ solution.

Since using this software, I have also found online collaborative mapping to be useful for organizing Personal research activities and also team-based research projects.

17. Conclusions:

The use of online Social networks as a learning environment, and mind maps for discovery e-learning was a new area of investigation. The focus on discovery learning provided an opportunity to investigate web 2.0 technologies in innovative ways.

The eTutor project had the aim of developing degree level online learning modules without creating new learning content and delivering the modules without using a conventional Virtual Learning Environment/ Learning Management System.

The purpose was to test the proposition that, as online learning developed to become a key component of learning delivery, globally and at all educational levels, learning content and resources would be freely available online to be harvested and used to support specific learning activities.

Furthermore, the project was designed to test the suggestion that, as Web 2.0 services and social networking applications became more widely available, customised online learning environments could be created using these applications without the need for a VLE/LMS.

The pedagogic approach taken was based on discovery learning where the learner was in control of the learning process, guided and supported by the tutor. The learner would be provided with a customised gateway to online learning resources that would be harvested and presented for use using search engine applications.

The learning environment design was based on the use of social networking software that was freely available and allowed a mash-up to be created of Web services and tools needed to support the learning process.

This report has described the outcomes of the second and third pilot studies of the JISC eTutor project. The exercise provided useful information regarding the use of Social networks as an e-learning environment and about approaches to retrieving online learning resources and presenting them to learners using Web 2.0 technologies.

The key conclusions drawn from the exercise were:

Social learning network:

Ning allows anyone to build a highly customizable community portal with little or no knowledge of web design. Due to its ease-of-use and effectiveness, educators around the world are using Ning to develop social learning communities. The creation of a Ning Network only takes a few minutes, and the Management of the Social Learning Environment is very easy. The system is ideal for educators to rapidly and easily create Social learning environments.

Web 2.0 Social Network technology allows for the creation of personalized online learning environments. The Ning platform proved a highly effective and user-friendly solution and popular with learners involved in Pilot 3.

Learners valued the more Social aspects of the learning environment, especially the ability to communicate with class-mates and the tutor using traditional messaging, forums and blogs for learning purposes and also using 3D interactive applications such as Buddypoke. Social networks make learning fun and more interesting/simulating for the student. Learners favorite SLE features include the informal but productive community nature, ease of use, user friendliness, easy to communicate with others and social features such as Buddypoke.

Using these communication tools, feedback from learners indicate they enjoy supporting each other through the learning activities in an open social community environment

80% of learners found the Social Network easy to use after only brief exposure during tutorial sessions over a 2 week period. 85% of learners thought the use of Social network enhanced their learning.

There was few responses regarding the learners least favorite aspect of the SLE, the one issue that several learner's commented on was the amount of email notifications they received when groups they are members of updated discussion forums etc. This issue was easily resolved by showing students how to change the email

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settings. In future extra training will be provided at the start/induction. Most learner's due to their familiarity with sites such as facebook and myspace required no initial training on how to use the network. Although one learner did comment that they "I have got used to the structure of blackboard". Hopefully blackboard's new community system will allow the 'Social' benefits this report confirms to be enjoyed by both students and tutors alike. One student didn't like the "work." Involved with the commnuity : ) overall very positive feedback such as "nothing really", "Nothing really, its all good."

The Ning or LearNING environment allows the tutor to provide informal feedback throughout the learning process by leaving comments on forum psts, blogs, private messaging and personal wall space. Feedback for learning activities can also be uploaded in audio or video format.

Incorporating the ‘self-reflective blog’ into the assessment for the module resulted in a dramatic up-take. Learners commented this reminded them to work in-between lectures/tutorials and the tutor witnessed a large increase in ‘Independent learning’ and positive reflection. All students were encouraged to state sources of background reading and brief summary of knowledge/skills gained.

Ning is an ideal platform for any type of collaborative exercise, whether it is for Learning, Commercial, Leisure projects.

Pilot 3: The Web 2.0 Social Network provided a solution and allowed for asynchronous communication and collaborative learning within individual student groups and between multiple groups of students with mixed abilities.

Mind Map:

An online ‘mind-map’ was created to display the leaning activities and allow the learners to clearly perceive and proceed through the sequence of tasks for each subject in a user-friendly and structured form to achieve the ‘learning outcomes’ of the module.

The use of a Web 2.0 mind map enables the tutor to display the module syllabus, learning activities, ediscovery learning mechanisms and learning resources in a single, clear and structured interactive graphical interface.

Online Mindmaping software can not only be used to structure a course and provide a discovery learning interface, or organize tasks/projects, but also as a document repository, for example to organize Lecture/tutorial files. This feature is available in the premium version of both MindMiester ($4 a month) and Mindomo ($6 a month).

85% of learners found the eDiscovery Map easy to use. Learners found the most useful features of the eDiscovery Map to be the visual nature and ability to view all topics

in one view and it’s ease of use. In addition many learners commeted on the provision of tutorials which were provided in both file and weblink format for Pilot 3. This response shows the value learner's place on receiving information/tutorials from educators; from this perspective discovery learning may be most valuable to supplement learning activities and traditional handouts/ehandouts. As with nearly everything in life a balanced approach is likely to be the ideal and most effective solution.

Online collaborative maps provide ICT support learning, teaching, research and administration.Search engines:

The use of CSE Custom Search Engines and refined search strings can dramatically increase the quality of the search result received by the learner. CSE enables the learner to rapidly home-in on the most valuable resources to achieve the learning activities/objectives more efficiently.

CSEs can be added to any level of the eDiscovery learning map from center node to individual learning activities or anywhere on the Ning SLE environment such as underneath the Map enabling the learner to simultaneously view the learning activities whilst using the search engine.

Using a refined search string with a CSE Custom Search Engine greatly increases the quality of the learning resources presented to the learner, and is the most effective discovery learning method tested in this experiment.

e-Learning Strategy:

Discovery learning facilitated and structured by a Tutor using web 2.0 technologies produces high quality online resources that improve the learning process.

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The role of the tutor is crucial in guiding the learner through the learning process, from goal setting, time management, encouragement, and to support learners develop effective discovery learning skills in order to complete learning objectives. One of the most useful features of the Social Network according to leaner’s surveyed was the regular contact and clarification of learning activities from the tutor, helped them to stay focused.

Learners are encouraged to solve problems through social collaboration with peers and independent self-reflection before contacting the Tutor. In addition to building social team-working and problem-solving skills, this method ensures the tutor is not over-burdened by learner communication and is able to answer questions on the support forum or within inbox at his/her convenience.

The system allows the Tutor to 'easily' review student progress. The weekly blog post is a very useful feature to help the student focus and progress, personal discipline is developed and it also provides a very useful monitoring tool for the Tutor to see who is progressing and who may require some help and/or encouragement. This is also a very useful teaching and learning strategy for a more traditional time-constrained course to ensure students are making use of the 'Student Private Study time'.

Use of the community network communication tools (for example for individual Modules) empowers the module Lecturer/Tutor with tools such as ‘community broadcast messages’, ‘group messaging’, or simply ‘send a message to an individual student’, thus enhancing support and monitoring, which will ultimately increase retention.

Social and collaborative learning technology offers learners a peer and tutor supportive learning environment. It is important for the tutor/Moderator to create an appropriate Social but professional learning culture, to assist students to enhance their focus on ‘learning activities’ in a supportive manner. The role of the tutor is crucial in an e-learning environment, open and supportive communication skills and the ability to create a professional learning culture are key.

Overall: Ultimately the project presents a Free, Easy and Effective Web 2.0 solution for discovery e-learning.

The collaborative and discovery learning environment is ideal for the new e-social generation and learner-tutor relationship. For any project or scenario that requires electronic collaboration and information management.

The Social e-learning environment and online collaborative mapping solution offers an engaging, rich and community enhanced learning experience.

18. Recommendations:

The project has provided an opportunity to briefly test the Web 2,0 tools and tutor e-learning strategy. The extent to which the technologies and learning strategy can be qualified as effective will depend on a full-scale trial e.g. over an academic year.

Provision of video tutorials: general overview of the module, learning strategy, how to use the network, discovery learning tools, Mind map, customize Mypage, integrate widgets and applications etc..

Integrate video chat/conference for tutor-learner and learner-learner collaboration.

Investigate the availability or quality of existing Video conferencing web systems. For a distance e-learning module all new students could attend an 'Online Video Induction Meeting' with the Tutor, this enables the Tutor to clearly outline the 'e-learning process' and answer any questions the perspective student may have.

An elearning map in the style of a Clock could be created to enhance usability. This method would provide add structure to the design that all learners are already familiar with, 1 – 12 analogue sequence in a clockwise circular layout.

Model a course using multi-layered maps. For example a Course Director may decide to create a map of a course, the first map a student views would simply contain the name of the course at the center branching off to display 3 more nodes simply containing text descriptions Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3. When the user clicks one of these nodes another Map loads on the screen displaying all the modules for that degree course, again the user can click a module node and the module map will be displayed on the screen, this map administered by a module co-coordinator can contain the module specification document at center, surrounded by nodes illustrating the

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lesson plan (containing learning resources) for the semester or academic year. Year 1, 2 and 3 nodes can contain Assessment Schedules. This is a very easy to use, easy to create, central and interactive resource for students, and can very easily be integrated into any VLE/SLE.

eAssessment: A tutor could use the online MindMap technology to create a student ‘Feedback Map’, to allow the Tutor to organize, structure and store student feedback, this method also provides students with easy access to summative comments from the tutor. The ‘Feedback Map’ could also be used to organize, store, and provide formative feedback throughout the course. A node could be created for each student and sub-nodes for each assessed exercise, the tutor could provide feedback on each node for each student.

APPENDICIES

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Appendix 1: Mind map feature listMindmeister Mindmeister is a free collaborative web-based mind mapping tool. It is built on standard web technologies (HTML, Ajax) and runs on all major browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Opera.In contrast to standard desktop-based software, MindMeister users can work simultaneously on mind maps and see each other's changes in real-time, highlighted through coloured effects. MindMeister is available in a free basic edition as well as a premium / team edition. The free version contains all standard features, but is limited to six maps per user. Premium and team users can store unlimited mind maps and benefit from a number of additional features, such as ex-port to MindManager and Freemind formats, SSL encryption, no advertising as well as the ability to edit maps without being connected to the Internet, using the tool's Offline Mode powered by Google Gears.With the Geistesblitz Tools users can quickly insert ideas into MindMeister maps through desktop widgets, Apple iPhone etc.MindMeister also offers an API that allows integration with other tools and websites.

https://www.mindmeister.com

Mindomo Mindomo is an online mind map Software where users can create, view and share mind maps in their browser. Mindomo was first available in February 2007. Mindomo is offering the basic services for free, while charging for ad-vanced features. The free version limits the number of private maps to seven and disables some special features like spell checking and file attachments. Mindomo also has a desktop version based on the Adobe Air runtime. The desktop version lets the users to work on mind maps offline.

Mindomo is a versatile Web-based mind mapping tool, delivering the capabilities of desktop mind mapping software in a Web browser - with no complex software to install or maintain. Anyone familiar with mindmapping, and MindManager, will recognise the terrain. The company behind it is Romania-based Expert Software Applications.

www.mindomo.com

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Appendix 2: Site ActivityGoogle Analytics (GA) was utilized to track and generate detailed statistics about the learners activity on the Ning learning environment. GA is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about visitors to a website.

Tutorial for implementing Google Analytics and Ning: http://help.ning.com/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3003

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Google Analytics: Some Valuable Things It Can Teach You About Your Network – Part 1: http://blog.ning.com/2008/01/google-analytics-some-valuable-things-it-can-teach-you-about-your-network-%E2%80%93-part-1.html

Appendix 3: Pilot 2 Feedback form

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Appendix 4 : Pilot Invitations & briefing E-mail 2: Pilot briefing:

Hi All,

Thank you all for agreeing to participate in the pilot and evaluation of the eTutor module 'Personal Computer and Internet Technology'. The pilot starts on Monday 17th Nov. and will continue for 4 weeks until Monday 15th December.

You can engage with the module online (http://etutor.ning.com) anytime during that period and spend as much time as you wish/think is necessary to complete the Subject area you have chosen. Please make full use of the ‘eDiscovery

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Map’ to complete each task.

Feel free to customize your ‘Profile page’, upload relevant videos (e.g. Youtube) and make use of the forums.

A ‘Pilot forum’ has been created for you to post your thoughts/feelings regarding your learning experience including the discovery learning method and social learning environment ‘HomeTutor’.

This is very much an experimental approach to providing learning resources and tutor support. As a result, I would greatly appreciate any thoughts you may have regarding aspects that are working well and areas for potential improvement.If you have any problems completing your Subject tasks please use the ‘Subject forums’.

I look forward to it all starting on Monday, I will review and respond to postings and your individual messages. 

( : E N J O Y  P L A Y I N G with the prototype : ) hopefully some of you will experiment submitting your work via Video. * HAVE FUN *

Very best,James x W x

Email 1 Introduction to Pilot:

Dear All,

A JISC eTutor project at Swansea Metropolitan University is currently underway, in partnership with the University of Glamorgan, the Open University and Coleg Sir Gâr, we are developing online learning modules that source their learning resources from the Web.

The first trial period will begin on Monday 17th November and will continue for one month. Just one subject area will be undertaken by each of the participants as part of the exercise and the time commitment will be small, ranging from 1-2 hours to a maximum of 6 hours over 4 weeks.

The project is exploring the proposition that the rapid growth of Web content means that eventually the resources needed for any programme of learning will be available on the Web. The project is coupling this with a 'discovery learning' pedagogic approach where online tutor support is focused on ‘guiding learners’ to the resources they need.

A prototype module has been developed and allows users to utilize an ‘eDiscovery Map’ that slows learners to identify web-based content to complete set learning activities.

We want to test the prototype with a group of 'expert learners' to gather informed feedback on the viability of the approach.

The module chosen for this prototype pilot is 'Personal Computer and Internet Technology'. The Module is divided into two units 1) Personal Computer Technology; & 2) Internet Technology. The Internet Technology unit has been selected for the trial. For the purposes of this pilot participants are asked to choose one Subject area from the ‘Internet Technology’ unit below:

1. How the Internet Works (time: approx. 1-2 hours) 2. Use of Web Applications (time: approx. 4-5 hours) 3. Introduction to Web Design (time: approx. 5-6 hours)

Depending on the subject area you choose participation in this small pilot study is likely to take either 1-2 hours, 4-5 hours or 5-6 hours spread out over a period of 4 weeks. The Pilot phase will start on Monday 17th November and will end on 15th December.

If you would like to participate in this study, your contribution would be gratefully appreciated. Please reply to this email stating your Name, email address and the ‘Subject area’ you wish to undertake.

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We want the expert learners to act as though they have no skills in this area and to judge whether the discovery learning approach provides them with the skills and knowledge to complete the learning activities (contribute to achieving the module’s learning outcomes).

We would be very pleased if you were able to participate as an expert learner. You have specialist knowledge that would enable you to objectively assess the viability of the approach and provide informed feedback. It is also hoped that the experience will be of interest to you and be of use in your own research and development. There will be an opportunity not only to evaluate the Web based discovery learning approach, but also to comment on the use of an online learning environment created entirely using Web 2.0 services.

I very much hope you are able to join us in this experiment and look forward to hearing from you. A briefing document will be sent out to all participants by the end of this week and you are invited to have a look at the online learning environment at: http://etutor.ning.com/ .

Best regards,

James W x

Appendix 5: eTutor Pilot Questionnaire Sent: 09 January 2009 17:04To: Williams, JamesSubject: re:  eTutor Pilot Questionnaire

Dear all,

HAPPY NEW YEAR, I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas season.

Once again thank you for participating in the eTutor pilot for expert learners. Your time, energy and willingness is appreciated.

I have created a small final feedback form which can be accessed on the homepage of the learning environment; alternatively you can use the link below:

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=abva0asbrvuwzhe531871

It would be very useful for us if you could spend a few minutes completing this form.

Thank you for your help.

Best wishes,James x W

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=abva0asbrvuwzhe531871

Appendix 5: Original Teaching and Learning Strategy

* WELCOME * to the eDiscovery module: 'Personal Computer and Internet Technology' (level 3). This Module is divided into two Units:1) Personal Computer Technology; &2) Internet Technology.

LEARNING STRATEGY: Each of the Units above have been split into Subject areas. Each Subject area contains a list of tasks for each learner to complete. Please use the 'elearning Discovery Map' below to navigate to each Subject area and complete the tasks . You can use the discovery arrows on each task to browse relevant sources of information online. You are also encouraged to input your own search criteria to find appropriate information.

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The purpose of this 'eDiscovery' module and learning strategy is to empower the learner to learn 'How to learn'. Participants will learn how to research and overcome problems, developing personal confidence and enterprise. However, the online Tutor is always available to support this process.You may find it helpful to read the 'Welcome Note' (see notes section below) to review the structure of this module.

SUBMISSION: Complete each task by either creating a Video (using screen-capture audio/video software) and/or a brief Report (using a word editor and screen-capture images) clearly describing the answer or outlining the steps taken to complete each task. When you have completed all the tasks for a Subject area (e.g. How the Internet Works) submit your work to your Tutor (James Williams) using the 'Blog' facility below. It is important to reference the background sources that contributed to the creation of your work, please review the referencing guide located in the Notes section on the left.

SOCIAL LEARNING: Use the 'forums' to meet other learners and discuss areas of interest.

TUTOR SUPPORT: Our Social Learning Environment 'HomeTutor' allows you to send a message to your Tutor (click on the thumbnail image and send a message from the profile page) or you can post a message on your Tutor's Profile page wall or particpate in the weekly live 'Tutor chat' Wednesday 4-5pm GMT.If you have an urgent question please send me a message via my profile page or via email james.williams@smu.ac.uk

Appendix 6: create a private networkThe learning environment allows the Tutor to set Network Privacy settings. The Ning platform aloows the Tutor (administrator) to limit who can see the network and who can access it by a few simple settings available in the Manage tab:

To have the URL (e.g. "etutor.ning.com") lead to a sign in page which requires the general public and members to sign into see the network, the 'private' network option should be selected. To allow only 'Invited' users to join the Ning Network (learing community), the private network option should be set to 'invitation only'. To add another layer of privacy, 'member moderation' can be selected. When member moderation is turned on, a Network Creator or an Administrator designated by the Network Creator must approve or deny every member that wishes to gain membership into the network.

To create a totally private network, set1) Private2) Only Invited People, and turn on3) Approve new members befor they can join .

To switch the privacy setting, sign in to the network, go to the Manage tab and click the "Network Privacy" link. When the new network privacy setting has been set, click the "Save Settings" button.

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Appendix 7: Buddypoke

Billions of BuddyPokes Powered by App Engine

Poking is a common feature on many social sites that underlies a universal human need to socialize. BuddyPoke is an application that takes this kind of human interaction to an entirely new level of interactivity and engagement. It is an app that first became very popular on orkut but has since expanded into many other social networks which support the OpenSocial standard. It enables users to customize their own 3D avatars with a huge selection of poking actions, each with game-like animation and interactivity. It is poking on steroids, demonstrated by the ability to create muscular action figures as your avatars.

Dave Westwood is the lead developer of BuddyPoke, and Randall Ho is the visionary and creator of the BuddyPoke avatars. Together they have made billions of BuddyPokes possible and have achieved a celebrity status on various social networks. Dave recently came to talk with us. "Our background is in 3D for the last ten years. We saw the popularity of Facebook gifting and poking applications, and wanted to to have some fun applying our 3D expertise and came up with the BuddyPoke idea."

BuddyPoke App: Fun and Engaging

We include a simplified demo version of BuddyPoke app for your viewing pleasure. As you can see, it "enables you to create your own avatar, in theory billions of options. You can personalize your hair, your eyes - basically expressing yourself by choosing your moods and poking friends," added Dave

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Powered by App Engine

With this kind of sophistication and interactivity it's a no brainer that its popularity was high from the get-go and its ensuing exponential growth in traffic quickly started to eat up a lot of CPU processing power. Luckily App Engine came to the rescue with its scalable architecture. Dave quickly learned how to program in Python, the first language available in the App Engine environment. With App Engine's thousands of backend servers, BuddyPoke was able to scale to tens of millions of app installs and billions of pokes. Since then it has been humming its way to the top of the leaderboard on orkut.

Viral Interactive Feature + App Engine = Monetization

The key to BuddyPoke's success rests on its built-in virality coupled with sophisticated interactivity. "If you are hugging a friend, you actually see two friends that are hugging, that's much more engaging," said Dave. However, their success would have hit a stiff wall of dropped connections without the backbone of App Engine. Now that the BuddyPoke team has found this magic combination of the OpenSocial standard for rapid and cross-container development and deployment, viral interactive features in a killer app, and a scalable backend solution in App Engine, the money is flowing in. "I go to a lot of [developer] meet-ups," said Dave, "their concern is that they can't make money in Thailand, Brazil, Spain, all these other countries, and it's like, well, we found you can!"

OpenSocial and App Engine Take the Heavy Lifting for BuddyPoke

As OpenSocial enables more and more social networks to support application platforms all over the world, it opens up a wide ecosystem with opportunities for developers to reach hundreds of millions of prospective users. They can leverage OpenSocial and rapidly repeat and multiply success. "OpenSocial, for the most part, it really does just work between different containers... in total it's probably a few hours to a day to port" BuddyPoke to a new social container, said Dave.

Dave and Randall, a small team of two developers, are busy expanding the footprint of their BuddyPoke app. While users are happily expressing themselves in the form of animated 3D avatars and poking actions, it is the ultimate form of self expression for two developers to be able to reach out and touch the lives of tens of millions of users, thanks to the power of OpenSocial and App Engine.

ref: http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/casestudies/BuddyPoke.html

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