... in Flexible, Open and Distance Learning: Workshop

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... in Flexible, Open and Distance Learning
Workshop

• Dr. Marina Stock McIsaac
• Professor Emerita, ASU, USA
• IODL 2006
• September 11,2006,
• Eskisehir, Turkey

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Background

• Arizona State University 1980-
• Fulbright (Anadolu 85-86, 91-92)
• International Council for Educational Media
  (ICEM) President, 2002-2006
• University of Aveiro, Portugal 2006

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Handbook of Research

• Gunawardena, C.N. and McIsaac, M.S. (2003).
  Distance Education. In D.H. Jonassen (Ed.),
  Handbook of Research on Educational
  Communications and Technology, 2nd Edition (pp.
  113-142). Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum
  Associates, Inc.

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Workshop Outline

1. Development of distance education
2. Research trends
3. Theoretical development
4. What do you want to know?
5. Selecting your research topic

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Workshop Process

1. Small group list research topics
2. Large group share research topics
3. New small groups to select research topic and
   develop research plan
4. Share research plans
5. Getting your research published
6. Conclusions

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Development of ODL

• Distance Education
• Online Learning Environments
• Integration of ICTs in classrooms
• Distributed Learning
• Blended Learning
• Communities of knowledge

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Early Research Studies

• Media comparison studies (NSD)
• Descriptive studies (not transferable)
• Cost effectiveness studies (not complete costs)
• Primarily quantitative analysis, some
  statistically flawed (not random assignment, etc.)

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Later Research Studies

• Learner needs
• Instructional process
• Issues of access
• Socio-cultural aspects of instruction
• Roles of teachers, students online
• Strategies for mediated environments
• Knowledge construction in mediated environments

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Theoretical Developments 1

• Industrial Model (Otto Peters)
• Guided Didactic Conversation (Holmberg)
• Independence and Autonomy (Wedemeyer)
• Transactional Distance (Moore)

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Theoretical Developments 2

• Control (Garrison)
• Interaction (Garrison Shale)
• Socio-cultural Context of Education (Evans,
  Nation, McIsaac, Gunawardena)
• Social Presence (Gunawardena, McIsaac, Tu)

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What do you want to know?

• Cognitive Process
• Learner Control
• Motivation
• Retention
• Instructional Interaction
• Instructor-learner
• Learner-learner
• Learner-content
• Learner interface

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What do you want to know?

• Socio-cultural context of learning
• Social learning preference (individual vs. group)
• Interaction in mediated environments
• Transactional analysis
• Social presence
• Creating online learning communities
• Autonomous learning vs. guided learning
• Alpha student
• Cultural considerations needed for distance
  delivery

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Socio-cultural Considerations

• Culture embodies the attitudes, values, and
  history that are shared by a group of people
  through their language, history and music.
  (Dyson, 1997)

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Examples of Culture

• Japanese direction of gaze vs. direct eye
  contact
• Colors as symbols red in China
• Conventions of politeness (asking 3 times)
• Humility vs. assertiveness
• Cultural import of external values

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Why Research Importance of Culture on Learning?

• Culture influences
• Pedagogy (lecture or discovery)
• Independence of learner
• Language of instruction
• Mode of communication (written, oral)
• Personality (assertive, passive)
• Social preference (group or individual)

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Working Groups

1. Small group list research topics
2. Large group share research topics
3. New small groups to select research topic and
   develop research plan
4. Share research plans

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Getting Published

• Select the right journal
• Use appropriate writing style (APA)
• Submit only when writing is correct
• Use journal guidelines
• Use research structure (introduction, methods,
  results, discussion)
• Resubmit

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Conclusion

• Read the research
• Use theoretical foundation
• Ask the question
• Develop the method
• Write up the study
• Submit for publication

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... in Flexible, Open and Distance Learning
Workshop
Tesekkür ederim

• Dr. Marina Stock McIsaac
• mmcisaac_at_asu.edu