Abstract

This paper highlighted the problems facing the establishment, development, management and utilization of instructional television (ITV) in higher institutions in Nigeria.  The paper also discussed chronicle of activities and achievement made at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in the effort at revamping the television system.  Obafemi Awolowo University was used as a case study because it is presently the only institution apart from the Television College, Jos that has facilities and have consistently over the last decade been involved in training and teaching television production courses at the post-graduate and under-graduate level.

In conclusion, for effective management and utilization of television, it was recommended that there should be political support in terms of policy and rationale, proper funding of education to meet the UNESCO minimum requirement of 26%.  Schools broadcast and ITV services should be re-established in the country.

Abstract

The objectives of the e-content development by the UGC are; (a) Generation of e-content, in all subjects, (b) Development of teachers and experts resources in e-journal creation; (c) Distribution of the e-content to teachers and students from formal and non-formal; educational modes, for supplementing and complementing professional teaching and learning content; (d) Development of partnerships between educational institutions and the IT industry for the continuous development of new content and methodology taking into account contemporary technology.

The product of e-content should be technologically friendly, learner friendly, learner centric, teacher friendly, learner centric pedagogy, self-evaluation, object based learning / teaching.   This paper explains the course material and its content hours of the study with its remunerations. The Course Development team methodology follows eight key steps to ensure the success of any e-content project; i.e., needs assessment, front-end analysis, design, planning, development, quality assurance, implementation, evaluation and customized on-site training.

India, BSNL Pune is launching “Multiplayer services” that include e-classes, among other things. Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd (MKCL) is poised to supply the content for BSNL where the relationship between the two is on a revenue sharing basis. The e-content package development team consists of instructional designer (subject matter experts (SMEs), interface designer, programmer, and audio video editor and project managers. Most e-Learning programs can be taken when needed. E-Learners can go through training sessions from anywhere, usually at anytime. Online e-content sessions are especially easy to keep up-to-date because the updated materials are simply uploaded to a serve Teachers are also review a student's scores and identify any areas that need additional training. Without a set strategy for e-content development, your program may fail. This paper also explains the advantages of e-content.

Abstract

The marching trend of the new economic order has generated a new capsule of SIX SIGMA as a unified approach to process excellence. The tests reveal that it has transformed some of the most successful companies in the world like Motorola, GE etc. It is activated as an approach to aiming at the target by changing the culture of a company, involving everyone in the company, not just the Black Belts and Green Belts. The concept of SIX SIGMA is to identify the problem in a process, set up project with the processes, evaluate the process and work through the project in order to improve the process in totality. In the words of JACK WELCH, Chairman of GE, the SIX SIGMA, is “The only programme I’ve ever seen where customers win, employees are engaged in and satisfied by, shareholders are (rewarded), Everybody who touches it wins.” In education it pertains of improving quality of matter taught, the character generated of the pupils in certain and the quality of study and school life. With the revolutionary usage of audiovisuals devices, like projectors, video conferencing, etc., the students can also be asked to write papers on a particular subject and after the presentation of papers, the discussion shall take place on the respective subject. Under this method of imparting knowledge of  literacy with quality, the thinking, writing and presentation skills of the students can be kindled. Not only this, the existing method of QUALITY IMPROVEMENT through SQCC (Students Quality Control Circles) have had the value based concept as a simile for the Six Sigma standards. It infuses a spike of excellence, emotional development, humaneness and self discipline.

Abstract

Automated essay grading or scoring systems are not more a myth they are reality. As on today, the human written (not hand written) essays are corrected not only by examiners / teachers also by machines. The TOEFL exam is one of the best examples of this application. The students’ essays are evaluated both by human & web based automated essay grading system. Then the average is taken. Many researchers consider essays as the most useful tool to assess learning outcomes, implying the ability to recall, organize and integrate ideas, the ability to supply merely than identify interpretation and application of data. Automated Writing Evaluation Systems, also known as Automated Essay Assessors, might provide precisely the platform we need to explicate many of the features those characterize good and bad writing and many of the linguistic, cognitive and other skills those underline the human capability for both reading and writing. They can also provide time-to-time feedback to the writers/students by using that the people can improve their writing skill. A meticulous research of last couple of years has helped us to understand the existing systems which are based on AI & Machine Learning techniques and finding the loopholes and at the end to propose a system, which will work under Indian context, presently for English language influenced by local languages. Currently most of the essay grading systems is used for grading pure English essays or essays written in pure European languages. In India we have almost 21 recognized languages and influence of these local languages, in English, is very much here. Newspapers in Hyderabad sometimes print like — “Now the time has come to say ‘albida’ (good bye) to monsoon”. Due to the influence of local languages and English written by nonnative English speakers (ie. Indians) the result of TOEFL exams has shown lower scores against Indian students (also Asian students). This paper focuses on the existing automated essay grading systems, basic technologies behind them and proposes a new framework to over come the problems of influence of local Indian languages in English essays while correcting and by providing proper feedback to the writers.

Abstract

While it is well-documented that appropriate training of teachers in the use of technological tools is an important variable in predicting the success of technology integration (Faseyitan & Hirschbuhl, 1994), a variable that is less often considered is that of the time spent or different levels of immersion in a technology integration training program (Stuhlmann & Taylor, 1999). This factor must be considered to be separate and distinct from the variable of overall experience as a teacher in the classroom, and/or teacher age.

This paper is based on a selected portion of the results of a five-year evaluative study of the teachers implementing a technology integration program in a rural school district located in the Southwestern United States. The fifth year design included analysis of observation data by year(s) of teacher participation in the program: Novice — 1 to 2 years of experience; Experienced — 4 to 5 years of experience. The purpose for the focus on this aspect of the evaluation was to determine what differences, if any, existed between novice (to the program training) and experienced (in the program training) teachers in how and to what degree technology is integrated into classroom instruction. The findings reflect differences to varying degrees in certain areas of instructional strategies and technology integration that should be considered for further investigation.

Abstract

The work outlined here provides a comprehensive report and formative observations of the development and implementation of hypermedia resources for learning and teaching used in conjunction with the BSCW managed learning environment (BSCWMLE).  This is based on the experience from the FISTE on-line course.  FISTE is an European project that focus on the use of the BSCW managed learning environment (BSCWMLE) for in-service teacher education inside Europe.  These resources are used to enhance teaching and learning of an electronics module in product design at final year undergraduate level in Loughborough University.  This research has taken place over a two year period when such resources were developed and implemented.  Such hypermedia-based learning resources were developed by the authors and include text, graphical, video and sound based media.

The BSCW managed learning environment (BSCWMLE) referred to in this paper as is a wide file-server system which is used to facilitate distance learning as well as provide support to many aspects of teaching, learning and assessment at Loughborough University.  The work reported here focuses on the use of the BSCW in support face to face learning as this module is not undertaken on a distance learning basis.  The author has uploaded all relevant teaching and learning resources onto the BSCW for accessibility by the students on this module.  Moreover, internet-based learning resources and assessments, in the form of pre-written computer programs and circuit building projects, were developed by the author, to enable the students to gauge their knowledge and understanding at staged points through the tutorial and laboratory sessions within the module.

In addition, this paper presents through case study the way in which this module is delivered and received illustrating how such resources are used by both teacher and learner.  As such this proffers an exemplar for effective deployment of such supportive technologies and resources in learning, teaching and assessment of a product design and technology module at undergraduate level. 

Abstract

Due to the anonymous nature of online courses, many instructors require some type of proctored, comprehensive exam at the conclusion of the course. While comprehensive final exams are not unique to the online classroom, the integration of a proctored, high-stakes assessment helps to ensure that the student registered for a course is actually the student who is completing course assignments and activities. While this type of approach can ensure the identity of online students, it can be cognitively demanding for students to master the wide-range of material covered in a single, comprehensive exam. The purpose of the current study is to examine the impact of required weekly cumulative quizzes on students’ retention and integreation of information. One online class completed weekly assignments with optional cumulative review quizzes while another online class completed identical assignments plus required cumulative review quizzes. Results indicated that students required to complete the weekly cumulative reviews retained more information as indicated by significantly higher final exam scores than students with access to the optional comprehensive review quizzes. Discussion highlights the value of integrating mastery-learning strategies, such as comprehensive review quizzes, into the course mix.

Abstract

In a study conducted to see which method of error treatment was more effective in EFL writing classes, 288 Iranian EFL learners took the TOEFL test to be grouped in two homogeneous classes. Each student in each group wrote a paragraph on a general topic which was proofread for mistakes/errors by three experienced EFL writing teachers (i.e., Pretest). One group received Red Pen treatment (RPM) and the other Remedial Instruction treatment (RIM). After a two-week interval, both groups repeated the same writing assignment proofread by the same teachers (Post-test). A Mixed Between-Within Subjects Analysis of Variance (SPANOVA) was conducted to analyze the effect of two different types of treatment (i.e., RPM, and RIM). Results, after analysis of the data, indicated that the main effect was significant for time but not for group. It was further noticed that the interaction effect was also significant. The RPM method, although not statistically significant, was slightly more effective in enhancing EFL written performance than the RIM method.