january
linux.conf.au
15 – 19 January, 2007
Sydney, Australia
http://lca2007.linux.org.au/
iLearn Paris Forum 2007
30
Mark Your Calendar
Promoting Critical Tinking Skills
Internet has created a new medium for education known as “online learning” which enables “digitised information”, accessed by a wider society. Online learning allows learning to be tailored to meet the student's needs and improve the interaction between instructor and student. The concept of online learning provides a bridge between the physical distance instructional resources and expertise and students who, for certain reasons May be of access to these resources.
According to Totten, Sills, Digby, & Russ (1991) online discussions allow students to share their knowledge that enables them to take responsibilities for their own learning, and thus become critical thinkers.
Background of the study
This research focuses on measuring the participation and critical thinking among Fundamentals of Networking class students. The framework for this study is based on the theory of “community of inquiry” by Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, (2001). This framework for a community of inquiry consists of three overlapping core elements: social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence. Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, (2001)
Among these three elements, cognitive presence is the central to successful higher education learning experiences. “Cognitive presence presented is the extent to which students are able to construct meaning through sustained communication” Garrison et al. (2000). Within this framework, critical thinking falls under cognitive presence. This study is an analysis of level of critical thinking took place as defined in Practical Inquiry Model phases that are triggering event, exploration, integration and resolution (Garrison et al. 2001).
This study is aimed to answer the following research question: How does online discussion assist students to develop critical thinking?
Online discussion is growing as a tool that could provide opportunities for teaching and learning beyond traditional classroom setting. This article presents a study on a group of four “Fundamentals of Networking” subject students to analyse the usage of online discussion in assisting them to encourage critical thinking. Blackboard Learning System that provides a platform for online discussion was used in this study. The result indicated that online discussion is a useful learning tool in encouraging students to “speak” and exchange their opinions. The author finds online discussion board an ideal learning tool for teaching and learning as the new age Information and Communication Technology, the Internet provides limitless information for students to analyse and post quality messages.
Rationale of the study
Jonassen et al. (1995) based on his study found that teachers control 80% of classroom discussions whereas in computer conferencing such as discussion board, instructors only contribute between 10-15%. (p. 14). Keeping this in mind, the current study designed to allow students interact online with their peers to share their ideas on a particular topic. The focus of the study would be on student led discussion whereas teacher does not play any role but just to guide the students to wrap-up up the discussion during the lecture.
Asynchronous discussion allows students to do some critical thinking and hence express their own opinion. Although more time May be required, students are given a chance to familiarise themselves with others' ideas and then develop a better response from them. Walker (2002) pointed out that using asynchronous discussion to stimulate critical thinking could be very challenging. As such he suggested integrating various learning styles by using sound, music, pictures, graphics, and simulations that can stimulate creative and critical thinking.
Text base asynchronous online discussion is the only style used in this study.
Classes' met on an online discussion sessions are held for two weeks, between weeks three and four. During this week students are required to join the online discussion replacing the traditional classroom discussion. The discussion will be conducted using discussion board available in Blackboard, a Learning Management System software used by Sunway University College.
For the purpose of this study, every group member is given a role and one of the members played the role of a leader. The next step is allocating a problem base question to the group in the discussion board. The instructor in early week 3 posted the question. Each student is then required to post discussion base upon their role also to respond to their group members. As this is a group work, each member of the group is required to help each other to solve the problem.
Critical thinking in online discussion
Discussion started in week 3 of the semester. In total there were seven groups that took part in this online discussion. The discussion started with “off-task” messages before moving into more active posting at a later date. This group posting are quiet consistent. Even though from 28th Jan 2006 to 5th Feb 2006 was a semester break, these students still able to contribute their ideas while being at home. This would not have been possible in a classroom discussion environment.
Online Discussion
Online learning tools such as discussion board provide many ways to increase communication between students and instructor. Rossman, (1999) concluded that communication using asynchronous postings to the discussion forum allows students to post at their convenience. Students are able to take time to read the messages, have deep thought and understanding about it before responding with valuable and mind provoking responses.
It appears that in case that asynchronous online discussion allowed most of the students to participate at a time appropriate to him or her whereas in a face to face discussion would never have this many messages especially when time is limited. All students were given equal chance to contribute their ideas and share their knowledge with their peers. Some students who hardly speak in classroom, have posted 12/13 messages over the two weeks. Marks could be the main motivator for this.
Online discussion encourage active participation
The number of messages posted and read was gathered from the Black-board system and added to get the total. In total there are 47 messages posted over two weeks. The average number of posts per student was 11.75. The length of total messages is 2291. In a group of 4 students, these results indicate a high level of participation, which might not have been achieved in a typical classroom discussion setting.
The self-pace environment that online discussion offers allow students to post quality messages, which shows that deep learning, took place. In total, the messages are read for 602 number of times. This shows that students have read the messages many times and this gives them an opportunity to increase their knowledge. Whereas, for discussion that takes place in classroom there will be no way to access or read it on their own pace and time.
The analyses of messages revealed that the quality of messages posted gets better in second week of the discussion whereas in week one students spend time introducing themselves, exchanging contacts and assigning of roles. In week two, critical thinking skills such as explo-ring, integrating and later on applying the ideas into real world took place.
Most of the time, these students post their message at at night. This is not possible for classroom discussion. The above example shows that active participation happen regardless of time in online discussion.
Findings and discussion
There are four phases of PIM to measure level of critical thinking. All messages were analysed on these entire four categories.
Higher number of messages in resolution phase could have been reached if instructor interfered and facilitated the discussion. McLoughlin & Luca (1999) found that when instructor interferes in the discussion, he is able to guide the students into a higher level of critical thinking.
Quality of messages improved rapidly in Week Two, as students were able to discuss and understand the given task better. It also helps them to have intense thought before responding with mind provoking responses.
Evidence from messages posted in Week Two shows that students have improved their writing skills as well. Discussion board helps student improve their writing skill. Cohen and Spencer (1993) as cited by Greenlaw (2003) commented that writing is essential for critical thinking as it allows student to build arguments.
Students that fail to attend lectures were still able to take part in the online discussion. They can still grasp the knowledge that they miss in class by reading the messages posted in the online discussion board. In this study the high number of messages read (602 times) shows that the students spend a lot of time reading message. This is supported by Greenlaw (2003) who commented that students would not miss the discussion as they can observe the flow of discussion anytime, anywhere without attending class.
The design of task given in this discussion is also another crucial issue for the success of online discussion. Each student assigned a role and grouped in a group of four. This gives them pressure and an impression that their contribution is very important to ensure the success of the group.
Future recommendations
Students were able to reflect their thoughts better with the guidance from Instructor. As such, instructor should involve himself in sending prompt replies to student to guide them to post high quality messages. This will be another motivating factor for students as it gives them the impression that the instructor checks each of their messages in detail.
Information collected from the messages posted by students is not sufficient to check whether critical thinking took place. Additional information from questionnaires from students would give a better insight to the researcher to evaluate the effectiveness of discussion board in building critical thinking
| Practical Inquiry Model measuring cognitive presence (adapted from Garrison et al., 2001) | |
| Descriptor | Indicators |
| Phase 1 Trigger events | Recognising Sense of puzzlement the problem |
| Phase 2 Exploration | Information exchange Suggestions for consideration Brainstorming |
| Phase 3 Integration | Connecting ideas, synthesis Creating solutions |
| Phase 4 Resolution | Vicarious application to real word Testing solutions |
Critical Thinking
According to Cohen and Spencer (1993) as cited by Greenlaw (2003), writing is an important element for critical thinking. It allows the students to learn and develop arguments that are supported by logic and facts. While Jonassen (1995) cited that, critical thinking involves three general skills, evaluating, analysing and connecting, it also allows students to construct new knowledge that empowers them and encourages critical thinking.
Lengthy messages might not favour some students as it takes long time to read and understand. As such, students need to be made clear on the length of messages they can post. Discussion should include other features such as images, videos, animation rather than plain text. This will help students communicate their ideas easily and creatively. This is supported by Walker (2005) who found that integrating various learning styles in online discussion board encourages critical thinking.
Discussion board- the ideal learning tool!
Flexibility in time that online discussions allow students to critically analyse their message before posting it. Therefore, discussion board would be an ideal learning tool for teaching and learning as information are always overflowing with the arrival of Internet. 
School
Cambridge University Press ties up with RiiiT to promote ICT education for schools throughout South Asia
RiiiT conceptualised a unique innovative ICT Education for K-12 and is named as IT Kids. IT Kids is a special package of teaching material, to assist students and teachers in honing ICT Skills.
Cambridge University Press, impressed with the concept of IT-Kids joined hands with RiiiT for publishing, distribution and marketing to cover rest of India as well as the whole of South Asia.
IT-Kids has been successfully tried and tested in Karnataka. RiiT not only provide end-to-end ICT education to schools but also provide ICT solution for school Administration and training teachers on ICT. In stage-1, the child and teacher is supported with conventional books; in stage-2 digital aid is being provided, where in the teacher is supported with classroom presentation, workshops/seminars, orientation programs, session plans, In stage-3, Computers based tutorial and online crossword puzzle, quizzes, memory games, animations & walkthroughs. In stage-4, e-learning content is provided with more through images, audio, simulation and multimedia.
‘Emotion software’ spots distracted students
Tutoring software that knows when students’ are losing interest in a lesson and can adjust to keep them on track is being tested by researchers in China and UK.
The system keeps track of students’ attention by measuring physical signs of emotion. It then varies the speed and content of a lesson based on an assessment of their level of interest. Ultimately, it could improve electronic tutoring, say the researchers, thus helping developing countries deliver education to remote areas that lack educational institutions.
To use the new learning software, a student wears a ring fitted with sensors that monitor heart rate, blood pressure and changes in electrical resistance caused by perspiration. This data is transmitted via Bluetooth to a computer that assesses the wearer’s emotional state. It judges if they are interested and keeping up or bored and struggling.
For example, it can slow down or change topic if a student seems disinterested, or appears to be falling behind. The software might also try a different mode of delivery, switching from text to video. It can also learn that certain types of material are more stressful to the student than others. This could help the system determine which material is most difficult for a student and requires further focus.
Students from NE States steal the show
School students from the north-eastern Indian states stole the thunder at the finals of a digital art competition conducted by software training major NIIT at the “Kidex” exhibition of Confederation of Indian Industry at Chennai Convention Centre.
The winners in all three categoriessub-junior, junior and senior — were from the north and some of them were from Meghalaya and Assam. Some of the winners, such as Bhargob Gogoi and Tanya Gupta from Uttar Pradesh, were flown into Chennai by the organisers only on the previous day of the event and were visiting the city for the first time
Implementation and Strategies for Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia (UiTM)
The e-Learning Centre (i-LEC) of UiTM was established in December 2005, to serve as the core unit in initiating and implementing e-learning on a campus wide level. The main function of the centre is to implement and provide services to create a learning environment where lecturers provide Web-based contents and online learning activities. Universiti Teknologi MARA, with fifteen branch campuses spread throughout the country offers indeed vast untapped resources as far as expertise and infrastructure. This article attempts to describe the University's efforts to embark on e-learning in a big way after a span of only one year of implementation efforts.
In Malaysia, e-learning is no longer a new phenomenon, but it has not ceased to be a hot topic. It has established itself as an option in all level of education, especially in tertiary education, where it is poised to take a larger role. The diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT) has enabled existing and new institutions of higher learning in Malaysia to offer their educational services to a wider market place and in many instances, beyond geographic locations. The demand for education, on the other hand has been growing so rapidly in the last few decades most particularly among adults. This phenomenon is closely related to the change from the industry-based economy to the emerging knowledge-based economy, which focuses on the development of the human capital as the major contributor to a holistic development.
Universiti Teknologi
MARA (UiTM)
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) is Malaysia's premier institution of higher learning that has experienced a phenomenal growth since its inception in 1956. The university has expanded nationwide with 3 satellite campuses, 12 branch campuses, 6 city campuses, 25 franchise colleges and a smart campus for the future. Its formation is based on a vision of outstanding scholarship and academic excellence that is capable of providing leadership in all fields of internationally recognized professional study.
The university has the broadest range of disciplines that any one university can boast of-from hotel and tourist management to accountancy to communication and media studies to medical and health technology, encompassing 25 faculties and 250 academic programmes spread over Science and Technology, Social Sciences and Humanities and Business Management.
Moving some activities online for example tutorials, discussion, announcements and assessment online and out of the classroom not only reduces demands on buildings but also creates efficiencies as digital materials are much faster, cheaper to produce, copy, distribute, adapt and share than other formats anywhere anytime
Today, the university has an enrolment of nearly 100,000 students spread through out the country registered in all the different modes of study and disciplines. UiTM being a pioneer institution of higher learning is totally committed to producing a significant number of Bumiputra professionals who are skilled in a broad spectrum of competencies covering a wide range of industrial and vocational requirements and therefore when given the mandate by the government that UiTM students enrolment will be expected to increase to 200,000 in ten years time, the university responded positively as it will contribute towards development of the human capital and increasing the national productivity of the country.
E-learning: The new age solution
To respond to the challenge of 200,000 student enrolment and internationalisation of higher education, the management of the university is confident with the potential of the technology, most especially the growing availability of Internet connections. E-learning could be the solution to the growth of the student population for the university within the time given and the promotion of life long learning by taking advantage of the technological opportunity.
For UiTM, e-learning will create an extended learning environment that supports, complements and enriches face to face classroom teaching and learning for the on-campus programmes as well as distance learning programmes. Now learning can extend well beyond the classroom in a blended learning powered by the virtual capabilities of e-learning. Academics now can put course materials online for students to access and also create online activities and discussion to improve students understanding and encourage deeper learning. Besides, moving some activities online for example tutorials, discussion, announcements and assessment online and out of the classroom not only reduces demands on buildings but also creates efficiencies as digital materials are much faster, cheaper to produce, copy, distribute, adapt and share than other formats anywhere anytime. E-learning is also easier for mature students and post graduate programmes.
The distance learning initiative for UiTM began since 1973 with the establishment of the Off Campus School which provides off campus learning opportunities (for certificate and diploma programmes) to individuals aspiring for higher education and improved qualifications but who are unable to take advantage of traditional modes of education. In 1990 the function and responsibilities of the Off Campus School were expanded to include distance-learning programmes through the use of study manuals and audio recordings. In 1995 the Off Campus School name was changed to 'The Institute of Education Development (InED)' and since July 2000, it began to offer online programmes (diploma, degree and masters) via the Internet. Currently, the Institute has an enrolment of 8,000 students and has successfully produced 3,000 graduates since its establishment.
The achievements at i-Lec shows 60% of lecturers registered as active instructors and 1600 courses delivered onto the portal accessible to students anywhere anytime by the end of April 2006. Beginning June 2006, data of all full time students has been successfully integrated into the system and through the i-student portal they can access the i-learn portal and course content
With the explosive growth of the Internet, in 1999 the university began to consider incorporating e-learning into its education offerings and not only limited to distance learning but also to complement on-campus programs. The main challenge was how best to create a potentially powerful learning environment that could enhance full-time on-campus education in the shortest time possible. The university embarked on a pilot project with twenty lecturers from different faculties selected based on their interest and commitment on e-learning and use of technology in teaching. The platform chosen and used by this pilot group was Lotus Learning Space 5 (LLS 5). Subsequently two more ICT group of lecturers were trained and efforts were drastically geared towards equipping faculties with technology-enabled classrooms to encourage lecturers to adopt technology in their teaching. However, feedback from the pilot group members was not satisfactory regarding the platform. It was too cumbersome and unfriendly for them and students to get started on their own. The achievement of the project was limited due to infrastructure and software limitations and time constraint to train all lecturers as content developers. After three years, 23 courseware of highly multimedia interactive mode were completed and uploaded online.
Acquiring UiTM e-learning platform: (http://i-learn.uitm.edu.my
Reviewing year 2010 – A Good Year!
In the later part of this year, at the UN Summit 2010 on Millennium Development Goals, the Prime Minister of India announced India’s progress in achieving ‘Education for All’. India has not only been able to ensure primary education for all children in the country, but has also recorded a100% retention of all school-going children not only in primary schooling but also for the secondary level. The Prime Minister pointed out that this achievement has been possible though sustained efforts by the government, global assistance, and collaboration with private sector and the civil society.
This year the government has recorded 100% Internet coverage of all secondary schools in the country. This initiative, a part of flagship programme of ‘nostudent- isolated’ programme, had received a remarkable support from the private sector connectivity and ISP providers who had come forward with a ‘low cost high coverage model’. Support from the government in the way of relaxing regulations and the opening up of a massive internal market for the private sector players has resulted in a surge in investment in rural connectivity. The government is planning to extend Internet connectivity to all primary schools by 2013.
This year saw the ‘Networked Teachers Consortium (NTCI) of India’ surging ahead with the education reform programme. Earlier this year, NTCI representatives at the global meet of ’21st Centuary Teachers’ received commitment of support from over 100 countries around the world for ‘global collaboration for education for knowledge society’ agenda. This was yet another laurel for the NTCI (this year, NTCI has added yet another 30 thousand teachers as member to its already hundred thousand strong membership). This has been leading the education reform process in India and the online (and offline) knowledge sharing and networking among teachers for professional development, and improving the outcomes of ICT-enabled teaching and learning in school.
The students-led research programme ‘Local Environment Monitor’, initiated in 2007 by five government schools of Uttaranchal, has grown in the last two years to a national initiative with over thirty thousand schools (both private and government) across the country, collaborating and sharing results through the Internet. This student-led initiative that has build a student network across the country to monitor the local environment (bio-indicators of atmospheric change, pollution, deforestation, etc.) has received a tremendous support from the professional scientific community. This year, students expanded their network to collaborate with similar networks in Asia and Europe.
2010 was a good year for India as the country readies itself to lead the global knowledge society.
Designing Multimedia Application for Children
There are lots of multimedia applications designed for children. A lot of imagination has gone into these designs especially educational applications but evidence from a scoping study and literature has demonstrated that the children find them boring much to the disappointment of some designers and producers. Having gone through periods of successes and failures, the educational software that was supposed to enrich and widen the child’s “window” on the world has to some extent failed to capture the interest and engagement of children. The kernel of the whole research was about discovering if this is true and if so to find out what we can do to make the multimedia appropriate for children. Perhaps a Design Model that could represent what children want in a multimedia application designed for them could prove to be useful for designers and evaluators to design systems that are both engaging and educational.
Engagement factors
Basically there are four main issues that seemed to be present in any discussion of children interacting with computer applications. The probable issues circulate around questions like:
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Does the application allow them to interact with it?
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What are the operating tools used?
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How immediate is the feedback when using it?
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What are the goals expected of them or could be set by them when interacting with the multimedia environment?
Most believed that multimedia has enormous potential. Many tried to design rich multimedia experience. Some works but some does not work. A search was made for a multimedia application that fitted the ‘wish lists’ of end-users in a scoping study. The Sims was a popular game about Life Management, where players play a major role in the management of everyday family life like providing a place to stay, managing finance, basic needs, moods and desires. The end-users had a very engaging experience interacting with this application. It was then chosen as a vehicle for these investigations. An Engagement Model was developed by the researcher through a number of experimental situations on end-users as they interact with this application. Findings from the experiments has given incites into what design factors that engages end-users and what does not when interacting with a multimedia application. The findings are not only useful in designing for children but in any e-learning environment.
Being able to interact is not the only criteria of preferences. The scoping study has demonstrated that the most important factor about children preferences with the multimedia CDs had to do not only with the ability for them to interact with the system but also to have design features that could draw the user’s attention so that he or she would not want to stop when asked to do so.
This sense of “engagement” or “being engaged” will enable the user to be fully immersed from the moment in the timeline of interaction when they are totally cut off from their surroundings through a force derived from within – intrinsic motivation. This Stanton (1998) refers to as hedonic. Therefore, the whole business of fulfilling the children’s need is to find multimedia that has properties that helped them to achieve this state and remain in it.
The research programme
There are five experimental situations involve in this research study. The overall purpose was to find out what really matters when designing multimedia for children. The story began by finding out what works and what did not and the whys behind it all. In a preliminary scoping study it was revealed that multimedia, as an approach, was rated higher than books but the children found the multimedia applications shown to them much less interesting than the corresponding books. These findings seem to suggest that the children did realise the potential of multimedia but did not like the design of the multimedia applications given to them.
As a result the experimental programme became focused on the features of the multimedia that could create this sense of engagement. The study started to develop a theoretical framework that was later tested and retested and ended in the formulation a multimedia design model that engages children. Each experimental study conducted illustrated how engagement really worked in a multimedia environment.
To sum up the findings from the scoping study it appeared that what children wanted was an application that let them: be in control, work at their own pace, manipulate the system, play a role in the action, create, see the things done on the screen immediately, have feedback that is not too delayed, and have goals either set for them or set by them.
A review of the literature about engagement and related concepts reinforced these conclusions and led to a provisional statement of the five design features that contributed to the experience of engagement.
An application that exemplifies user engagement
One way to find a multimedia application that exemplified user engagement is to look for a multimedia application that has been proven to be very popular with children. The application has to be entertaining and educational. The purpose of this study was to find out whether the five design features identified in the scoping study were present in the application and if so whether the features do contribute to the degree of engagement experienced by children.
To sum up the findings from the scoping study it appeared that what children wanted was an application that let them be in control, work at their own pace, manipulate the system, play a role in the action, create, see the things done on the screen immediately, have feedback that is not too delayed, and have goals either set for them or set by them
What do the children want?
A scoping study in a natural setting was conducted to see the reactions of children when interacting with books and a number of multimedia applications that comprises of information CDs and a game CD. Through a grounded theory of ‘discovery lead by children’ method the researcher had factors those could make one multimedia system more engaging than another. Findings from this scoping study demonstrated some needs that would help them stay engaged.
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Children wanted a system that allowed them to be in control or in charge. When made to compare, books were preferred because they preferred to read rather than be read to. They could flip through the pages and feel them.
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Children wanted a system that allowed them to create. Children expression of their wish of wanting to create is all about having a chance to get some form of ownership or personalisation into the system they are interacting with and not having everything already there “created” for them like the information CDs and some educational websites designed for children.
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Children wanted to see what the impact would be if they did this or that to the system.
They wanted some form of immediacy to enable them to see immediately what happens if an action is taken like a position of the cursor change when a mouse moves to a certain direction, etc. -
Children wanted feedback preferably immediate rather than delayed.
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Children wanted goals and purpose for doing something either set by them or set for them.
In this scoping study, the children were free to play around with the multimedia given to them. The purpose was to see whether the design features in the multimedia could give some form of motivation to attract them to it. The findings show that goals are important for children, either set by them or set for them, that is, either extrinsically or intrinsically motivated. Therefore, when an external drive is not present, the multimedia must have goals either directed to the children by the system or it must make it possible for the children themselves to set and achieve their own goals (task closure) to arrive a certain level of attainment.
A website from an independent and reputed source that sells all kinds of edutainment and games CDs for children was seek. It was found that the game, The Sims got very high ratings (higher upper end ranging from 8/10 to 10/10) in terms of preferences from lists of 96 customer reviews about it collected by the source from 18 Feb 2000 to 23 October 2001 (Woolworths, 2002) since its release 11 Feb 2000.
The Sims
The Sims was a popular game about life management, where players play a major role in the management of everyday family life like providing a place to stay, managing finance, basic needs, moods and desires. A close observation of the application revealed that this multimedia has all the five elements mentioned above.
Through in-depth observations and analysis the researcher found out that The Sims let’s children do role-play and be creative. It gives immediacy to actions made from input devices on screens. It gives feedback: immediate when they are building and rather more delayed when seeing the consequences for families. Its goals are either, directed or non – directed. Most initial goals are task directed by designers but when the child wants to continue playing, the child can set the goals.
Structure of study
A number of experimental stages were made in this study. The first group of experiments was conducted to find out if this multimedia application, The Sims, that has all five features, is really engaging. The next experiment was if the game is engaging, which of the factors contribute to the sense of engagement. A Preliminary Engagement Model was designed from these factors that contribute to engagement. The other experimental studies that follow were conducted to test this model. Factors in the model were dismantled to test, design, retest and redesign under varying conditions till the Engagement Model gets its final form.
An engagement scale score
An engagement scale score of 0 to 10 with a 5-point scale smiley face was created for this study. The scale score had been tested calibrated and validated before it was used in the experiments to develop the Engagement Model. Every child was asked to record an engagement scale score whenever a bell is rang at every 5-minute interval.
The children were asked to place their feelings about stopping if asked to do so at the moment when the bell rang. They could place as high as 10 if they did not want to stop and wanted to continue playing or as low as 0 or leave the game if they want to stop or bored with the game.
Towards a model of engagement
Even though it did not prove possible to disentangle all of the engagement factors so that they could be separately tested, the following overall conclusions could be drawn from a systematic analysis set out to test the role of these five factors in creating an engaging experience. The findings were:
• When all five features are present children achieve a high engagement score over a 40 minute period
• Enabling children to set higher goals for themselves, as in construct interaction, often led to more sustained engagement
• Children with prior experience of the game became engaged much faster than those without experience
• The Construct Interaction condition tended to sustain permanent skill retention better than the Simulation Interaction suggesting that motor skills are more reusable than mental model skills
• Children continue to develop and therefore their aspirations with any application change over time. They continued to be engaged by the application whilst they could still achieve new goals
with it
A model built from this summarises the results from these studies and having initially demonstrated how the five factors interplay to create an engagement experience, there is now an inclusion of a further factor, the sixth factor of the past experience of the child.
Interactivity
Through tests on this engaging application it was demonstrated that, in most cases, no interaction does mean non-engagement. This finding supports the hypothetical statement that interactivity is premier in any form of engagement. Basically a multimedia has got to be interactive in order for it to be engaging. The children have got to be able to do something and see the impact on it for them to be engaged to it.
However, children were not necessarily engaged just by
having some design feature that allowed them to interact using
some basic operative tools. It was found that children quickly get
bored not only when they had only a few things to do; but also when the design features are in plentiful variety.
Children felt bored because there was nothing to do. This is because of passiveness of the design. It became evident that, though interactive, these design features lacked the ability to allow the children to do anything with it and this bores them. In other words for a child to appreciate and like a multimedia application there must be some kind of activity occurring between the user and the computer application that helps them stay engaged. Schank (1993) suggested that students learn well when they are engaged in active exploration, interpretation, and construction of ideas and products with multiple resources. The scoping study demonstrated that having the ability to interact and get immediate feedback using basic motor skills was necessary but not sufficient for engagement. The applications did not help children achieve a set of goals that is intrinsically motivating if external motivation is not present. As far as learning through play is concerned, engagement steps in when the line of demarcation between the two kinds of rewards disappear. For the children in this research, at least, engagement is all about the drive from within, an intrinsic motivation of not wanting to stop, a point in time when the drive from without becomes “irrelevant” to the situation under study. There are a number of reasons why this phenomenon happens.
At most times it is all about goals setting. Some design features sustained engagement better than others because of the wider scope of freedom of goals setting the design promoted as in Construct Interaction. Others tended to restrict freedom of goals setting thus hindering the extension of creation and imagination, which in turn resulted in a much shorter engagement span as in Simulation Interaction. Goals, intentions, dreams, and desires are in most circumstances affecting the mental model skills of the individuals, whilst tools used to achieve these goals are affecting the motor skills of the individuals. Therefore ‘being engaged’ is about having these skills interchanging until the goal is reached. A previous experience factor accelerates the process to reach this engagement phenomenon. The more experienced the child is the faster the child reached this stage of ‘being engaged’, when they could set their own goals. The limit in engagement is reached when the design system exhausts the chance to set and achieve advanced goals. Therefore engagement can be sustained as long as the system can successfully continue to give chances for users to set more goals.
India
Schools all set to enter 'space age'
Schools in the state Tamil Nadu are set to reap the benefits of space-age technology with the State project directorate of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) launching a project to digitally map all schools to cover 'bald patches'.
The project, School GIS, will use the Geographic Information System and the Global Positioning System to spatially generate digital format maps under the District Information System for Education (DISE). The maps will be used to generate data on which habitations do not have access to schools and which schools need to be upgraded. Schools low on performance and enrolments will be identified.
The DISE has been revised this year to include data on unrecognised schools. Tamil Nadu was the first State to achieve complete coverage under DISE in 2004-05 and the reports thus generated will be shared with stakeholders at various levels.
Cutting-edge technology for education sector
AutoDesk Inc. has launched a global student engineering and design community portal (http://students.autodesk.com) in India, to educate the students with latest 3D design technologies and prepare them for careers in engineering as well as design. It will also enable global interaction.
Students and faculties across the country can access the portal by entering the university id. Consumers of the community will have access to a number of tutorials, different forums, class discussions, social networking, a library of international projects, case studies, and search for employment and internship.
Autodesk's recent initiative is aimed at acquainting Indian students with the wide possibilities that 3D design technologies offer and provide them a larger platform for marketing themselves to the global community. Providing students and educators the opportunity to freely download and use such high-end software packages along with the training materials is going to help advance 'design enablement' of India.
UGC plans virtual university, with on-line exams
As educational institutes gear up to increase the number of seats in view of the new quota bill, the University Grants Commission has mooted a proposal of setting up a virtual varsity, that does away with the need for classrooms.
The proposed university does away with the concept of classrooms and offers interaction with teachers via television using the Edusat satellite and also makes available the study material on the Internet that can be accessed from home. Exams, too, would be conducted on-line for different undergraduate and post-graduate courses.
The proposal by the Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC), an inter-university wing of University Grants Commission (UGC), comes against the backdrop of a bill passed by the Parliament that mandates increase in number of seats to allow quotas for OBCs in Government-aided educational institutions. CEC has installed satellite interactive terminals in most of the general universities across the country where students can go and participate in the programmes.
The CEC has also installed receive-only terminals in several colleges, including 72 institutions in north-eastern States. The programmes will be available in these centres, but the students will not have the scope to interact with the experts here.
IBS Launches India's First AI Focused Institute
Intelligent Business Systems (IBS), the AI-based business competitiveness solutions firm, has announced the launch of IBS Education Pvt Ltd (IBSE).
It will bring to India research-based education and training in areas of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. It will offer customised courses for corporates, and long-term graduate and postgraduate level degrees like MSc, MPhil & PhD in areas such as Computational Neuroscience, Intelligent Systems and Computational Intelligence. It plans to target software professionals, who are working in software companies, IT departments and also students with MCA, B.Tech and B.E qualifications for its short-term and long-term courses.
MS lines up pilot Tathya Mitra kiosks in Bengal
Microsoft Corporation has partnered with the panchayat and rural development (P&RD) department of government of West Bengal to set up five pilot 'Tathya Mitra' kiosks at the gram panchayat level in the state. These kiosks will assess the information needs of the rural
people and viability and sustainability of their operation on commercial basis through women SHG members. Two of these kiosks will come up in Purba Medinipur and three in Birbhum district. These 'Tathya Mitra' kiosks will employ ICT to catalyse progress and access to information, education, e-governance, tele-medicine services, amongst others, in the rural areas.
IITs seek quotas for foreign students
The seven IITs have asked the HRD ministry to reserve 25% post-graduate seats and 10% faculty posts for foreigners. The idea to introduce reservations for foreigners was mooted after all the seven
directors agreed that having a mix of “unlike minds with different backgrounds” will work towards enhancing the academic environment on campuses.
This is not the first initiative aimed at widening the pool of students. In fact, to draw talent from overseas, the IITs have also announced setting up jee centres in Singapore and West Asia. As part of the expansion plan to accommodate 27% OBC students, campuses will require 1,200-1,500 more faculty members. Officials hope to meet some of the demand by recruiting abroad.
Vocational subjects in CBSE course soon
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will be introducing vocational subjects required by the industry at the plus-two level in a phased manner to equip students for employment.
The course would be known as Professional Competency Education or Occupational Oriented Education and some of them have been identified so far. The subjects could range from health care, fashion and garment technology, BPO call centre courses to financial management transactions. President A P J Abdul Kalam had spoken about equipping students with vocational training at the ten-plus-two level saying there was a need for them to acquire skill at that stage.
BMC's mantra for exam success is 'live@school'
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has hit upon a new idea to improve Secondary School Certificate examination results in its schools. Students will be asked to make the school their home for three months preceding the exams. This, officials feel, will ensure that BMC students score better. To implement the proposal, the BMC has sought the support of NGOs to provide the necessary facilities, serve lunch and dinner, organise lectures on concentration, and maintain physical and psychological fitness. But the proposal is facing some opposition in the BMC's education committee, a body comprising corporators. The committee has decided that parents' permission must be sought before implementing the proposal.
Schools all set to enter 'space age'
Schools in the state Tamil Nadu are set to reap the benefits of space-age technology with the State project directorate of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) launching a project to digitally map all schools to cover 'bald patches'.
The project, School GIS, will use the Geographic Information System and the Global Positioning System to spatially generate digital format maps under the District Information System for Education (DISE). The maps will be used to generate data on which habitations do not have access to schools and which schools need to be upgraded. Schools low on performance and enrolments will be identified.
The DISE has been revised this year to include data on unrecognised schools. Tamil Nadu was the first State to achieve complete coverage under DISE in 2004-05 and the reports thus generated will be shared with stakeholders at various levels.
Cutting-edge technology for education sector
AutoDesk Inc. has launched a global student engineering and design community portal (http://students.autodesk.com) in India, to educate the students with latest 3D design technologies and prepare them for careers in engineering as well as design. It will also enable global interaction.
Students and faculties across the country can access the portal by entering the university id. Consumers of the community will have access to a number of tutorials, different forums, class discussions, social networking, a library of international projects, case studies, and search for employment and internship.
Autodesk's recent initiative is aimed at acquainting Indian students with the wide possibilities that 3D design technologies offer and provide them a larger platform for marketing themselves to the global community. Providing students and educators the opportunity to freely download and use such high-end software packages along with the training materials is going to help advance 'design enablement' of India.
UGC plans virtual university, with on-line exams
As educational institutes gear up to increase the number of seats in view of the new quota bill, the University Grants Commission has mooted a proposal of setting up a virtual varsity, that does away with the need for classrooms.
The proposed university does away with the concept of classrooms and offers interaction with teachers via television using the Edusat satellite and also makes available the study material on the Internet that can be accessed from home. Exams, too, would be conducted on-line for different undergraduate and post-graduate courses.
The proposal by the Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC), an inter-university wing of University Grants Commission (UGC), comes against the backdrop of a bill passed by the Parliament that mandates increase in number of seats to allow 
Project Sharada bags best IT usage award 
NICT an NGO of Indore bagged the first prize the first prize under the category “CSI-TCS Award for Best Usage” of the CSI National IT Awards 2004-06 for the year 2004-05, for implementation of “Project SHARADA” in Primary Schools run by the second
largest Municipal Corporation in the world, the Municipal Corporation Delhi, MCD.
Project Sharda is a unique project in which ICT is being used to meet the challenges faced by MCD primary schools like low retentions, enrollment disinterest in education and coming to school in the urban poor community. The project has contributed remarkably in the Govt. vision and concern about primary education its univeralisation, reach and affordability with quality education.
The award was given to NICT and MCD Jointly in a ceremony held during the 41st CSI annual convention of Computer Society of India (CSI) at Kolkata on 23rd November 2006. The theme of convention was “Affordable Computing”.
Cambridge University Press ties with RiiiT IT Kids to promote ICT education in South Asia
Cambridge University Press has tied up with Raman International Institute of Information Technology (RiiiT) IT Kids project to promote ICT education in throughout Asia.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
RiiiT conceptualized a unique innovative ICT Education for those kids who are 12 years (K-12) and it is named as IT Kids. Basically IT Kids is special package of teaching material, to assist students and teachers in improving ICT skills. It provides an end-to-end ICT education to schools but also provide ICT solution for school Administration and training teachers on ICT. IT-Kids product will provide complete end-to-end ICT learning content through giving total support to the child and teacher. The curriculum provides continuous support in honing ICT skills through four stages. In stage-1, the child and teacher is supported with conventional books; in stage-2 digital help is being provided, where in the teacher is supported with classroom presentation, workshops/seminars, orientation programs, session plans, while in stage-3, Computers based tutorial and online crossword puzzle, quizzes, memory games, animations & walkthroughs. In stage-4, e-Learning content is provided with more through images, audio, simulation and multimedia. IT Kids has been successfully tried and tested in Karnataka. It is expected that IT Kids programme will reach up to 1 million students throughout south Asia in next year.
e-Publishing industry expanding its market in India
The e-Publishing industry is making its place in Indian market also. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Libraries across the world are doing huge transition to provide content to users in electronic format. ScholarlyStats is using data gathering service from the MPS Technologies stable. The service will provide libraries across the globe with consolidated vendor usage statistics by collecting, standardising and consolidating journal and database usage reports. This is the first service to provide libraries with a single view of their vendor usage statistics, allowing librarians to save time compiling data but spend time on analysis and acting on the results. The company is initiating e-Publishing industry in India. The company has initiated dialogue with a large number of libraries in India to create awareness about its products.
ISDG implements ICT in primary schools of Seychelles
The Iceland-Seychelles Development group (ISDG) has collaborated with its local partners to develop primary school teachers to become more confident by using ICT.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
ISDG and local partners like Air Seychelles and Cable and Wireless Seychelles are collaborating with the Ministry of Education to develop primary school teachers in becoming more confident by using technology and maintaining student's interest in the classroom. This intensive training programme will allow implementing ICT in primary schools from next year. The project is a collaborative effort between the people of Iceland and the Seychelles, in particular, the Ministry of Education. In the first phase of the programme, ISDG has made donations of computers, educational software and other accessories to all primary schools in the country. ISDG is expecting that this programme will open world-class possibility to encourage creativity amongst teachers and students. ISDG is planning to take opportunity in all primary schools of the country.
