Creating and Deploying Learning Resource Applications

Creating And Deploying A Learning Resource Application

Foad Motalebi

Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Miri, Malaysia

Lau Sien Ting

Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Miri, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Preparation and delivery of effective electronic learning material contributes to a good learning experience. Educators have exploited the various ways in which to maximize the teaching and learning benefits for their students, using ICT tools. One way of doing this is presenting their electronic resources in a network folder. However the clutter of information in a network folder can be disorganized and a relevant file could be confusing and hard to access. The researches believed that creating a single Learning Resource Application where all the relevant files and resources would be embedded in an organized manner in a single executable application file would be a better option. After a Learning Resource Application was created for a particular unit and deployed in a network folder, the students of that unit expressed their explicit preference in using an application resource. Training was conducted for other educators to create a Learning Resource Application as well, so that they could implement this technology in their units according to their discretion and contribute to the total learning environment. Again it was seen that educators who had adopted this technology after their training and created their relevant Learning Resource Application got a preferential feedback from their respective students.

INTRODUCTION

The preparation and delivery of good learning material content has always contributed to a good learning experience. Since the advent of Information Technology many lecturers have exploited the various tools available to them to maximize the teaching and learning benefits for their students. The lecturers of the School of Pre-University Studies at an Australian offshore University campus have also been using relevant Information Technology alternatives to present their learning resources to their students. Some of the tools used by them to present information to their students are MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, PDF Documents, Web pages, audio, video and other customized files. These files were created by the respective lecturers and uploaded to the relevant Network folder location from where it could be accessed by the students. It was observed that most of the software resources available to the students were spread around in the relevant network folders either neatly arranged in designated sub folders or scattered around in no particular order. The three figures namely Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3 show some of the possible ways in which information was arranged in the Network folders.

Figure 1: A Network Folder Resource

Figure 2: A Network Folder Resource

Figure 3: A Network Folder Resource The students would find the relevant resource from the folders and study it or download it into their storage medium for future study and reference. However the clutter of information in their respective network folders seemed to be disorganized and took some time to find. In addition students found that locating the correct files among the various folders and downloading them into their individual storage medium to be confusing and time consuming too. This situation amplified the interest of the educators to undertake a research to create a single Learning Resource Application where all the relevant files and resources would be embedded in an organized manner in a single executable application file. The researchers hoped that by delivering the files in an organized, systematic and user-friendly manner in an executable file would alleviate the problem and result into a better overall teaching and learning experience. It was also hoped that if this solution would be beneficial to the students, the technology of creating a Learning Resource Application would be taught to the other lecturers who would implement it into their units according to their discretion and thus this would be beneficial in the total learning environment.

TEACHING AND LEARNING USING ICT

Developments during the 1990s in the field of new technologies especially in the field of information revolution has made a significant change in the way we work, study, play, form relationships and communicate (Tabscott, 1998). New technologies are solutions created by individuals to store information and interact with others so they can play an important role in training and education (Wolff, 1998). These technologies spread around solutions to daily work related problems like communication and the gathering of information (Mikulecky & Kirkley, 1998). ‘The central factor in producing wealth and power is the ability to access, adapt, and make intelligent use of the new information technology’ (Warschauer, 1998). A modern individual has to have a good understanding of technology so that they can function properly and be collectively in control of the development of society, which is ever increasingly driven by technology (McCormick, 1999). So it is very important for us to find new intelligent solutions with the help of information technology.

This is ever more true in case of educators who have to explore and find new solutions in technology to serve their purpose especially in the use of ICT, which is getting increasingly mainstream and permeating in every aspect of our life. Educators should adopt these solutions as fast as they can and should not disengage themselves from information technology and leave it to students to teach each other, rather they should integrate information technology with the curriculum they teach (BECTA, 1999). Educators become educators primarily for the reason that they are enthusiastic about helping out their students to develop and grow as individuals (Huberman, 1993). ICT can be used by educators as a strong intelligent tool to deliver that help. These intelligent solutions can best be used by educators in preparing useful learning materials for their students. All students, whatever their ability, stand to have their education enriched by information technology (Cockfield, 1995). An easy access to the information is very important for successful learning. Adopting new technologies enables educators to do new things in new ways and which requires them to reflect on the theory of knowledge (Noss & Pachler, 1999).

The role of educators in finding proper software solutions by structuring and sequencing the learning process is necessary and conducive to a good learning resource (Leask, 2001). They need to look at new developments and examples of technologies available in information technology so that they are aware of the opportunities it offers. They should also be aware of the educational purpose of ICT. Once educators realize the potential of ICT tools in solving their teaching and learning related activities they would rather enjoy using it and benefiting from it. When designing learning resources, educators will have to consider what exactly they want to achieve and then consider the most appropriate approaches to achieve those goals (Leask, 2001). This process of restructuring educational resources requires an identification of the dynamics of change and the construction of a framework for analysis which would be creating a model for understanding the complex relations between pedagogy, technology, educators and learners (Leask, 2001). It is also important to have a greater flexibility in education so that alternative ways of presenting materials to the students is found and sought for allowing them to have a better learning experience (Maier, Barnett, Warren & Brunner, 1998). Educators can improve the learning environment if they ensure that the students have as much flexible access as possible to the learning resources (Maier, Barnett, Warren & Brunner, 1998).

However educators should continually upgrade their ICT skills. They have to be equipped with transferable skills like ICT competencies that enable them to restructure their knowledge and understanding, in order to manage the demand for greater flexibility in a changing world (Leask, 2001). As educators we are influenced by information technology and we need to find out which parts of this technology will fit our needs and then learn to use them effectively to empower students and improve the quality of education (Maier, Barnett, Warren & Brunner, 1998). For example educators can take advantage of ICT by providing electronic learning resources in certain centralized locations like the campus network. Resource-based learning via the computer is a collection of learning materials in form of files (Maier, Barnett, Warren & Brunner, 1998). In order to do this we have to start thinking about how best we can learn software packages to meet our needs (Maier, Barnett, Warren & Brunner, 1998). It is also important for educators to ensure that students interrogate the resource purposefully, and prevent aimless wandering through the material (Maier, Barnett, Warren & Brunner, 1998). They have to organize their materials systematically where access would be easy and would reflect their enthusiasm for their units. The challenges faced by responsible educators are to utilize proper and appropriate technologies to organize education for their students so that the students can have an easy access to educational resources (Leask, 2001).

METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION

The research was completed during a period of nine months. The research was done at Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak, Malaysia. The initial sample for this research included a group of first semester engineering students studying the C++ programming unit from the school of Pre-University studies. The class comprised of 47 students. These were the students of July 2005 semester.

A Learning Resource Application for Programming in C++ was created. The design and appearance of this application was left to the discretion of the C++ unit leader who was responsible for teaching this unit. This C++ Learning Resource Application consisted of all the presentation slides, lab sheets, lecture notes and extra audio visual files, which was embedded in it. All these files were placed in the application in an organized manner in proper sections of the application so students could easily access them with a few clicks of the mouse button. New and revised files could be added to the application whenever required as deemed necessary by the unit leader. The application was deployed in the network folder where it replaced all the existing files and folders pertaining to the C++ unit. All the relevant students of Pre-University Engineering course could access this network folder and execute the application. Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6 shows the C++ Learning Resource Application in the network folder. Figure 4: C++ Learning Resource Application Executable File in the Network Folder

Figure 5: C++ Learning Resource Application Main Page

Figure 6: C++ Learning Resource Application Lab Exercises Page In order to analyze the effectiveness of the application a questionnaire was prepared. This questionnaire was based on student perception about the application and through this questionnaire students could provide indication of their attitudes towards the application. This questionnaire was given to the students to give their feedback towards the end of the semester when students had completed using the application. The questionnaire consisted of four-point Likert type questions. Each statement on the questionnaire gave students an opportunity to provide a single response on a four point scale indicated by “definitely yes” (Y), “yes” (y), “no” (n), and “definitely no” (N). The questionnaire also consisted of some open ended questions where students could express their thoughts openly about the application they had used in the whole semester. The researchers would then evaluate the student feedback based on the questionnaire response.

The researchers had decided that if the response from the students was generally positive they would have a short training on creating a Learning Resource Application for the lecturers of the School of Pre- University studies. This would enable them to implement this technology in their units according to their discretion and entitle their students to have a better learning experience.

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Based on the results from the feedback questionnaire given to the students it was found that the student perception of the C++ Learning Resource Application was largely positive. Some of the questions asked in the questionnaire and their response is shown in the Table 1.

QUESTION “Definitely “Yes” “No” “Definitely Yes” % % % No” % The C++ Learning Resource Application contributed 63% 30 % 7% - greatly to your learning of C++ programming. The information in C++ Learning Resource Application was organized systematically and hence accessing the 67% 28% 5% - information was easy. The way in which information is stored and delivered in C++ Learning Resource Application is preferable to the 64% 28% 8% - other resources of other units in the network folder. The C++ Learning Resource Application needs further - 13% 57% 30% improvement. Table 1: Result of student perception on C++ Learning Resource Application

Based on Table 1 results about 95% of students agreed that the information was organized systematically in the application and accessing it was convenient. Another 92% agreed that the way information was organized in the C++ Learning Resource Application was preferable to the other resources of other units in the network folder. These results were very encouraging to the researchers. The results showed an obvious preference for the Learning Resource Application. The comments of the open ended questions were analyzed as well and the results are shown in Table 2. These comments again showed that students preferred using the application resource rather than the scattered resources found in their network folders. About 80% of the students commented that the application was systematic and easy to access and find resources. About 70% of the students commented that the application made copying of the resources into their storage medium much more easier as they did not have to worry about copying multiple files but copy only one single executable file, which consisted of everything. Another 33% of the students gave comments that the application made it possible for them to revise it further on their computers without the need to connect to the internet or access any other network. Percentage of Students Giving OPEN ENDED COMMENTS Same or Similar Comments All the resources in the application are properly and tidily arranged in one location, 80% which makes it convenient and easier to access and find the resources. The application had systematic division and distribution of various resources. 7% The application was time saving when students looked for resources. 10% The main benefit of the application was categorizing the information in an 30% organized way in a single interesting graphical user-friendly application. The application made copying of the resources into our storage medium much more 70% easier as we had to worry about copying only one single executable file. We can copy the application to our storage medium and revise it further on our computers without the need to connect to the internet or accessing any other 33% network. Table 2: Results of open ended comments given by the students in the questionnaire feedback

Having got positive response from the students the researchers undertook the task of organizing a training session for all the staff of the School of Pre-University studies before the beginning of the March 2006 semester. A total of 22 staff were given the training. The staff were first made aware of the benefits of adopting this technology. The results of the feedback given by the C++ programming students was shared with them. The staff were told about the appropriate technologies used to organize educational materials for the students, which would enable their students as well to have an easy access to educational resources (Leask, 2001). The training would teach the staff the essential skills required to Create and Deploy their Learning Resource Application. This would enable the lecturers to upgrade their ICT skills. As lecturers they would be influenced by information technology and find out which parts of this technology would fit their needs and then learn to use them effectively to empower their students and improve the quality of their teaching and learning (Maier, Barnett, Warren & Brunner, 1998).

The software development kit programming language chosen to train the staff was Microsoft’s Visual Basic. The reason Visual Basic was chosen by the researchers was because it was a powerful RAD (Rapid Application Development) programming language and was easy to learn. However the researchers prepared the training material and trained the staff exclusively on only the skills required to Create and Deploy the Learning Resource Application in Visual Basic. The researchers believed that once the staff started delivering their educational resources in a Visual Basic application they would be enthusiastic to get more knowledge and skills in Visual Basic and explore its various solutions. The time period taken to train the staff was about 3 hours. During this period they underwent a hands-on training session in a well equipped computer lab where they were shown through a process of step-by-step demonstration the ways in which they could create their Learning Resource Application, embed in it the relevant files and deploy it in their respective network folders. The researches hoped that most of the lecturers would adopt this new approach of delivering their electronic learning resources. The Microsoft Visual Basic programming language was installed in the computer workstations of all the staff that underwent the training.

It was found that by the third week of the March 2006 semester, two lecturers that had undergone training, had adopted this method and delivered their electronic content through an application. These two lecturers were the unit leaders of two units each namely Engineering Mathematics 061, Engineering Mathematics 062, Commerce Mathematics 061 and Commerce Mathematics 062. They were very enthusiastic about the whole process of creating these applications and having complete control on the design of their applications. They had organized all the relevant files in their application systematically so that it could be easily accessed. They kept on adding information to their applications sequentially every week. Figure 7, Figure 8 and Figure 9 shows some of the applications developed by the two lecturers. Figure 7: Engineering Mathematics 061 Learning Resource Application

Figure 8: Engineering Mathematics 062 Learning Resource Application

Figure 9: Engineering Mathematics 062 Learning Resource Application – Lecture Slides Section In order to analyze the effectiveness of the four applications developed by these two lecturers the questionnaire used before on C++ programming unit students was given to the students of these four units. By this the researches hoped that the sample of students giving their feedback on the effectiveness of using an application would increase and thus increase the scope of the research to include feedback from larger student body. The questionnaire was given to the students in the fourth week of their March 2006 semester, when the students were still in the initial stages of their semester, and when they were still using the application for their reference. A total of 197 students gave feedback on their perception of using their respective Learning Resource Application. The overall result of the student feedback pertaining to the usage of the four applications is shown in Table 3. The overall result again showed that students prefer using an application resource to get their information because of its organization and systematic presentation of leaning resources.

QUESTION “Definitely “Yes” “No” “Definitely Yes” % % % No” % The Learning Resource Application contributes greatly to 41% 24% 27% 8% the learning of your respective unit. The information in your Learning Resource Application is organized systematically and hence accessing the 62% 33% 3% 2% information is easy. The way in which information is stored and delivered in your respective Learning Resource Application is 54% 32% 8% 6% preferable to the other resources of other units in the network folder. Your Learning Resource Application needs further 14% 17% 32% 37% improvement. Table 3: Result of student perception on Learning Resource Application developed by lecturers for fours separate units namely Engineering Mathematics 061, Engineering Mathematics 062, Commerce Mathematics 061 and Commerce Mathematics 062

CONCLUSION

This research showed that usage of a Learning Resource Application rather than scattering and cluttering the resources in a network folder is beneficial and preferable to students. It also showed us that educators are greatly enthusiastic to create their personal learning resource application and design it according to whichever way they deem their students can best benefit. This research is still in a continuous process and further analysis is required to demonstrate its effectiveness.

REFERENCES

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