December 2006 Archives

chanced upon this comprehensive list on references for Learning Strategies and Metacognition prepared by Dr. Neil Anderson from Bringham Yam University. if only i found this list earlier :P

Thank you Prof Anderson ! :)

this is the set of slides for the presentation at NYGH 2 days ago. the quake at taiwan has really crippled internet access in asia pacific for the past 2 days, still experiencing lag this moment :|

if you would like to find out more about the studies mentioned in the presentation, grab it here:
1. Chua, G.K. (2006). Pupil eportfolio (a literature review)
2. Chua, G.K., & Tan, Y.H. (2006). Building a group blog for learning.
3. Tan, Y.H., Ow, E.G.J., & Ho, P.Y.J. (2005). Weblogs in education (a literature review)
4. Tan, Y.H., Teo, E.H., Aw, W.L., & Lim, W.Y. (2005). Portfolio building in Chinese language learning using blogs.
5. Tan, Y.H., Ow, E.G.J., & Tan, S.C. (2006). Audioblogging: Supporting the Learning of Oral Communication Skills in Chinese Language.

oh, and i realised my (possibly last) contribution to the lit review series is up, get it if you want to learn about what's the difference between audioblogging and podcasting :)

6. Tan, Y.H., & Mong, K.T. (2006). Audioblogging and podcasting in education.

2007's just round the corner; after reading the 'conclusion' for 2006, what's up ahead should be of interest, check it out now in eSN's article: Six ed-tech trends to watch in 2007 :)

The Edublog Awards 2006 Winners list is out. Check out this link and find some good blogs to reference to :)

An article written by Christopher D. Sessums :)

2006 is coming to an end real soon. so what has been the top 10 ed-tech stories stirring up in the states, read this report from eSchoolNews to find out :) oh btw, Part 2 of the article goes here.

a quick glance at the 'headlines':

10. Cell phones: The good, the bad, and the ugly

9. One-to-one computing: Promising solution--or overhyped mistake?

8. Video-gaming in the classroom: Playing attention

7. 21st-century learning environments: Building schools of the future

6. Social-networking web sites challenge policy makers

5. Online learning comes of age, multiplying the opportunities available to students and teachers.

4. Video goes 'viral,' expanding the reach of college lectures--and turning ordinary students into internet celebrities.

3. Education 2.0 has arrived: The emergence of web-based services and other open technology alternatives is changing the nature of school software.

2. Disaster planning takes on added importance for schools--and technology plays a huge role.

1. Elections bring a 'changing of the guard': New Democratic majority in Congress set to tackle several education issues.

TIME.com posted the above article two days ago, check it out and reflect upon this cover story in TIME magazine.

and interestingly how CNN tweaked the title to be "How to bring schools into 21st century". juz an observation :P

a most commonly asked question by teachers is "what's the difference between blogs and discussion forums?". this article addresses this question ...

Abstract

Weblogs or blogs are being heralded as the �next big thing� in education. In this article we examine the advantages and disadvantages of this form of Internet-based interaction using the Community of Inquiry model with its focus on social, cognitive and teaching presences. We conclude that blogging has distinct advantages over more common threaded discussion in its support of style, ownership and identity, and its public nature may enhance resolution phases of cognitive presence. However, its lack of safety and the current inefficiencies of linking and threading messages present greater challenges than the more familiar threaded discussion or email list. Perhaps the blog�s greatest relative advantage is for non formal and open education that takes learning beyond the traditional course.

URL: Comparing Weblogs to Threaded Discussion Tools

APA-styled reference
Cameron, D., & Anderson T. (2006). Comparing weblogs to threaded discussion tools. (Online) International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, 2(11). Retrieved December 8, 2006, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Nov_06/article01.htm

found this paper via my google alert:

A study on the perception of students towards educational weblogs

Abstract (part of):
"This paper investigates student perception towards the purposes of blogging. It reports an experience of introducing blogging tasks to third year computing students, and compares their perception with students not participating in the blogging tasks. A student perception model is proposed to explain the difference in the perception due to the experience in blogging. The paper concludes that mandatory use of weblogs in a course can gradually cultivate educationally sound perceptions in students despite of the observed misuse."

Reference APA style:
Lui, A. K., Choy, S.-O., Cheung, Y. M. Y., & Li, S. C. (2006). A study on the perception of students towards educational weblogs (online). Informatics in Education, 5(2), 233-254. Retrieved December 05, 2006, from http://www.vtex.lt/informatics_in_education/pdf/INFE087.pdf