Notes from Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training ITHET 2013, Antalya

A New Strategy for Higher Education and Training
Shirley Alexander

Some intro stuff about the buildings being built for the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
   - leads to questions about designing learning for the future
   - reference to the old 'cranking ifo into students' heads diagram

- claims about the future:
       - work at own time, place, etc
       - computers will revolutionize learning
   - along came MOOCs
   - investment in MOOCs: $100M
       - will take time but will have a major impact

- why things will change...
   - Bondi beach: people ran way from the storm front
   - cost
   - decrease in public funding
   - questions whether the investment is worth it
   - disaggregation of higher education

- cost - taxpayers spend $7B in Australia on HE
   - suggestion they should fund only courses where there is a clear public benefit
   - Ernst & Young - only 3 ways universitys can survive
        - status quo - requires streamlining
        - niche dominator
        - become 'transformers' and change completely what they do
   - Georgia Tech & Udacity - $7000 for an online masters degree
        - people are enrolling in the hundreds in that degree
        - people on campus may ask why they're paying an additional $33K

- disaggregation - what sudents want:
    - learn new things,
    - employment, or
    - broader opportunities

- what should be in a course? what employers say:
    - interpersonal skills & communication
    - passion, desire, commitment, attitude
    - fourth place - calibre of academic result
- what students say:
    - engaging classes (and podcasts of them)
    - more F2F time with academics
    - more feedback & faster turnaround
    - etc. - and they want electronic versions of all those things

- week by week - attendance in a f2f class - down to 31% by end of semester

- What students need to do in order to learn:
    - have learning goals, then,
    - access ideas and content (itunes, YouTube, MOOC, etc) - high
          - so before they come onto campus they have been engaged already
    - on campus: making sense, testing ideas, action of some sort, perhaps industry internship, nore MOOCs
    - receiving feedback on those actions - from network, or perhaps 1-1 confersation with academics
    - reflect - think, maybe write a blog, etc.

- the new buildings don't have a single standard lecture theatre in them
    - (but then we see a lecture theatre photo - but with chairs on casers and tiered tables
    - engineering - labs - but also - remote labs using simulations
    - support for peer learning, groupwork (picture or room with tables)
    - picture of studio-type spaces

- Learning 2020 Projects:
    - nuanced timetabline system
    - change in workload models
    - data-intensive university
    - eg., event lifecycle analytics

- analytics in teaching and research:
    - mapping courses to identify 1st year attrition and 'killer' subjects
    - student dashboard & personalization
    - seeing high attrition rates in engineering courses
    - i-Educator - outreach program by student service unit
          - reduces attrition rate by half in contacted students
    - understanding why pass rates <20 br="" courses="" in="" killer="">          - resources: social networking, teaxhers, pathways, etc
          - factors included: interval between adjacent subjects

- personalization - the 'holy grail'
   - eg. Knewton, Sigmo
   - numeracy


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Linking Theory With Practice
Blanka Klimova
Uni of Hradec Kralove, Czech


- many young graduates cannot find employment after leaning school - about 1900 annually in Czech Republic - rates between 2.7 - 13 percent
- number of graduates increased from 8000 16000 2001-12

- our uni member of Hradec IT cluster
    - about 20 companies from Hrdadec region
    - company experts invited to give lectures
    - companies offer students topics for final projects
    - staff do research for companies & offer workshops
    - one-day job fair since 2008, includes presentations from companies (300-400 students)


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Control Engineering Edication Critical Success Factors Modeling via Fuzzy Cognitive Maps
Engin Yesil
Istanbul Technical University (ITU)

- ITU ABB Process Control Laboratory
        - fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) - various presentations

- FCM firected signed graphs with feedbacks - model events, values, goals as collection of concepts by fgraphinh causal links between these
- eg. FCMis a 4-tuple - concepts, weights, connections, functions
- two approaches:
     - expert based
     - automated learning based
- expert-based approaches - but these can be subjective and introduce errors; use more than one expert
     - define important concepts - eg. using self-study report, reserach studies from literature
     - identify relationships - uses survey
     - determine weights - aggregate expert weights
- simulation - code written in Mretlab - sigmoid transformation function


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Didactic Reflection of Learning Preferences in IT & Managerial Fields of Studuies
Petra Poulova
Uni of Hradec Kralove, Czech


- online course run in three different ways:
    - materials selected by leanring styles
    - or by teaching styles
    - or as selected by student

- Johnson's concept of learning styles:
    - combination lock metaphor
    - 'learning combination' inventory - four patterns:
            - sequential, precise, technical and confluent 

- No statistally signif. difference between groups
    - as determined by test scores
    - why? it students prefer everything?
          - it's our experience that IT students are different from every other student
          - anything online is fine, but they reject anything printed

- some discussion of Bloom;s - adaptation for digital literacies, adds 'communication'

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Building Effective Blended Learning for Engineering Studies
Samra Mujacic
Uni of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

- developemnt of learning tech and learning styles
- bringing together educational resources of a different nature - resulting 'blend' is more valuab;e
- this is the model developed at College of Computing and Business Communications eMPIRICA

- blended learning: mixes face-to-face and online learning
   - blend:  f2f(driver), rotation (flipped), flex, online lab, self-blend, online driver
   - model based on pedagogical, tech, mmanagement and institutional factors
   - dominent model: 80% e-learning, f2f 20%
         - LMS: eCampus + IWB-video capture (YiuTube channel) + Adobe Connect + WebEx

- analysis of blended learning model, compared with traditional learning model
   - analysis:
   - blended students better in IT related subjects;
   - group A had better results in engineering math & business English

Conclusion
   - efficient blended learning is more than eTexts and productivity tools
   - eMPIRICA approach better for teachers and students


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Skill Learning Environment for Posture and Motion
Masaru Okada
Wakayama University Japan

- in traditional method, motion skills are learned by observation - it is difficult to pick up on this
- new method proposed: use a life-sized model using artifical reality (AR)
   - orientation sensor produced by MicroStrain

- evaluation experiment - 10 male students in thier 20s, motion example: Aikido
    (Aikido chosen because it's slow, performed in a small area, and posture is important to master the motion)
    Result: only the experimental group has improved

- note: the control group watched the video before the pretest, then only watched the same video during instruction; the test group watched the bvideo before, and used the simulation during instruction. As a commenter pointed out: this is a test on whether feedback helps, not a test of some particular tech.

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Do Engineering: Delivering First Class Online Engineering Education with Graphical System Design
Michael Haddad - National Instruments Arabia

Online learning:
- access to education to hundreds of thousands of people
- platform for dissemination of a wide variety of topics
- ideally suited for arts, humanities, finance...

But...

- engineering still relies in theories and equations - there isn't really th idea of learning by doing, so
   - engineering courses have low completion rates
   - retention of concepts is very low
- eg. MIT engineering courses stufy:  8% completion rate (yikes)
- so, how do we address this?

Let's do engineering.
   - how does a student's brain work? David Barret, Olin College
   - cycle of learning - net gain after rest is small compared to what wasoriginally retained
   - so, give them stimulus: high emotion reinforces neural connections
        - eg., make paper airplanes to win competition
   - as a result, net gain much higher
   - so, doing engineering is essential

How can online students do engineering to build systems?
   - future eengineers will either design or use systems, so they have to understand system-level design
   - systems are everywhre, from the Tesla motor to the smartphone
   - Berkeley research: best way to learn system-level design is a platform-based approach
        A. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, 'Designing Platform Based Design', EEDesign, Feb. 2002
        - because engineers spent more time figuring out the tools than actually doing engineering

Graphical system design:
   - top-level, the application domain (measurement, test, monitoring, embeddedm control...)
   - middle: platform
   - bottom-level: work environment: desktops and laptops, NI CompactDAQ, PXI and modular installatioons, NI Compact RIO

The platform API should provide several tools for interacting with data online
   - eg. LabVIEW Web Services
   - eg. Data Dashboard - download for android tablet or iOS
          - build their own applications, eg. windmill monitoring system

So, when we look at doing engineering, there are two approaches:
   - direct access, on campus, to advanced applications - ike robots, etc. - high cost; or campus access in central lab
   - open couyrses, MOOCs, highly distributed hardware
   - LabVIEW crosses these two envirnments

Centralized lab: eg., NI ELVIS Multi-Disciplinary Teaching Platform
   - combines various functions: oscilloscope, digital multimeter, function generator, etc.
   - fully programmable
   - supports teaching eco system - from engineering to bio
   - interactive remote labs: (Massive Open Online Labs - MOOLs) - iLAT use of MIT labs, for example
   - such a system is scalable
        - you can have centralized labs on multiple universities,
        - served through a common broker,
        - which can provide access to thousands of clients

So, how are they used?
   - students build circults, analyze them, collect data
   - the circuits access these labs - these are preset experiments that are assembled for them (so they never insert the transistor backwards)
   - but you want them to be able to touch and use the hardware...
       - so, eg., NI myDAQ - similar to the ELVIS, whuch does a bunch of things

Use case: Rice University MOOC
   - Dr. Johnson, spring 2013 - 350000 studnets - but no lab component
   - Echoes 'Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering'
   - being developed for 2014 with experiments

Use case: Georgia Tech (the $5K masters)
   - they want to guarantee that the experience online is the same as in person
   - so they are making optional books + equipment they can buy

Use case: Circuits by Tsinghua University
   - China MOOC in edX online for myDAQ integrated in circuits
   - uses NI myDAQ - but needs more, to provide access to controls....
         - with 'systems on a chip' we can introduce electronics for controls
         - eg. myRIO - enabled system design platform with api, wifi access, etc

I asked whether there are use cases where teams of people in different locatiosn colaborate to design a single system - response is that this is possible, but we are not MOOc providers. So it still needs to be developed.


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Technology for Learning: Flipping Instruction
Keith Willey, the University of Technology, Sydney

Flipped instruction:
   - a form of blended learning (Wikipedia)
   - transmission-based in-class lectures replaced with participative leanring activities
   - humanities have been doing this forever, with books
   - but STEM students have a different mindset, they want to be led a bit first

Features of flipped instruction:
   - we want to release class time to be used for interactive and collaborative activities
        - because learning is socially and culturally constructed
        - meaningful learning happens when students are engaged in social activities
   - need to create opportunities for feedback, to get feedback from studnets
   - class time is freed up for higher-level activities: analysis, evaluation, creation
        - this includes assessments and providing feedback

(failed attempt to show a couple videos)

Misconceptions about flipping:
   - it's not less work - it's actually more work
   - many students find they dion't have the time to consume the flipped lectures
   - students thought they 'paid' to be taught by an expert - student culture resists change
   - many students don't have the confidence to exercise their judgement

Assessment:
   - Ramsden (2003) - assessment deisgn and methods have the biggest impact on student learning
   - Tang (1994) - is assessment seen as requirin passive acquisition and accurate reproduction of details, students will adopt a surface approach employing low-level cognitive strategies
   - Carless (2007) - diagram of learning-oriented assessment
        - assessment usually though of as measurement
        - but there's also a leanring aprt - we want assessment tasks as learning tasks - feedback as fed forward
   - formative vs summative assessment - as soon as we make assessment summative, students get strategic

Validity of assessment:
   - Sadler (2010) - assessment fidelity - elementss that contribute to a grade correctly identified as academic achievement
                           - vs. grades for efforts, attendance, participation, revision, compliance, memory
                   - lower thresholds for interim quality judgements send a muffled message
                           - you need to give people the chance to practice the stuff that will be on the exam
                   - cumulative assessments in which early understandings are recorded misrepresent the achievement in the course
                           - some people might be really good at the little quizzes each week, but others learn more globally
                           - need to use threshhold exams where earlier results can be overruled

Activity design:
   - begin with understanding of how it is going to be assessed
   - what opportunity can I give them to learn it?
   - then - and only then - do I look at the resouces

Supporting scaaffolding
   - get them to explain why they deisgned they activity they did
   - and what learning opportunity this affords
   - how can students evaluate their learning from the activity?
   - how will the activity impact on their reality - how does it help them see their world differently?

Technology's role....
   - should be more than about efficiencies and sustainability
   - use simulations and enquiry-based learning activities
   - they should facilitate collaboration and peer learning and development of professional judgement
        - writing for the tutor should be dead - we want students readinge ach others' assignments
        - example: Tim's Tutor online simulation (by Emona)
        - example: SPARK PLUS software - a way for students to self-assess each others' work
   - they should provide new perspectives and views to address threshold concepts (these are difficult-to-understand concepts that open up a whole new way of thinking) - give them more incremental access to these concepts
   - should provide access to analytics to understand how students learn

Flipping recommendations:
   - start small, learn from feedback and imporve, and make things short
   - spend more time preparing the flip
   - take the opportunity to learn from student feedback and dialogue
   - design appropriate and valid assessment


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MOOCs and/or E-lectures - a means of virtualizing university education
Thomas Ottoman, Germany

- crucial point in xMOOCs - high quality content production
   - EU - significant funding for content production 1995-2005
   - but most online cousres did not survive the initial funding period
- a feasible alternative - recordings of live lectures
   - this is now a routine service at many universities
   - access to e-leactures doesn't empty lecture theatres

- engagement of the teacher:
   - lecturing is still seen as the main duty of a university teacher
   - so why should a professor engage in a MOIOC?
         - prestige
         - attraction of grant money and VC
         - personal financial benefits
         - in the long run, financial or other rewards appear to be indispensible to keep teachers involved in online teaching
         - example: The VFH - 3000 students enrolled
         - media fees paid by students (have to do thuis in Germancy, there's no tuitions for brick & morter)
         - or, online tecahing may reduce teaching load
         - example: VHB (Virtual University Bavaria) = 100K students per year
                 - the reason student take these is credits count fully toward degrees

- involvement of students:
    - MOOCs have high dropout rate, there's no entry requirement, no dropout cost
    - students tend to behave like watching TV, there are many rubbernecks and lurchers
    - MOOCs students cannot be perosnally taught, need tests, discussion forums, etc
    - MOOCs follow the 'Darwinistic approach'f teaching and learning

- e-Lectures production - digital or analog?
    - turns a perfect event into time- and space- independent mode
    - make optimal use of current technology for recording, storage, distribution, etc
    - provide added value: replay, searching, browsing, etc.
Not as easy as it seems - professors use multiple tools today. 3 main forms of recording
   - screen grabbing
   - VCR recording
   - object-based recording

Screen-grabbing
   - take snapshots of presentation screen, synch with audio, present as video
   - eg. Camtasia
   - problem is it destroys the object-base of presented media & symbolic information

VCR recording
   - done in background through projector - you don't need software on the presentation computer
   - eg. matterhorn open source lecture capture
   - object information is lost

Object-based
   - object remains intact, can be searched, etc
   - but you need dedicated recording and replay software - eg. Lecturnity

Essentials:
   - prepare slides as templates to be filled-in at presentation time
   - use a large graphics tablet
   - cut the recording into chunks of about 20 minutes
   - take care of the audio stream - use high quality microphones
  
E-lectures portal at Frieberg - one of the most accessed servers
   - students like to download lectures
   - permanent problem: management of digital rights
         - copyright laws allow use in limited classrooms
         - so they have to password-protect classes


Comments

  1. According to the Institute department survey there audit and statistics totally agree with the technological era, that this era is for IT's and Computer scientists also that every thing is going Automotive not in the businesses also in the Institutions.

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