The adoption of Course Management Systems (CMSs) for web-based instruction continues to increase in today's higher education. A CMS is a software program or integrated platform that contains a series of web-based tools to support a number of activities and course management procedures (Severson, 2004). Examples of Course Management Systems are Blackboard, WebCT, eCollege, Moodle, Desire2Learn, Angel, etc. An argument for the adoption of elearning environments using CMSs is the flexibility of such environments when reaching out to potential learners in remote areas where brick and mortar institutions are non-existent. It is also believed that e-learning environments can have potential added learning benefits and can improve students' and educators' self-regulation skills, in particular their metacognitive skills. In spite of this potential to improve learning by means of using a CMS for the delivery of elearning, the features and functionalities that have been built into these systems are often underutilized. As a consequence, the created learning environments in CMSs do not adequately scaffold learners to improve their self-regulation skills. In order to support the improvement of both the learners' subject matter knowledge and learning strategy application, the e-learning environments within CMSs should be designed to address learners' diversity in terms of learning styles, prior knowledge, culture, and selfregulation skills. Self-regulative learners are learners who can demonstrate 'personal initiative, perseverance and adaptive skill in pursuing learning ' (Zimmerman, 2002). Self-regulation requires adequate monitoring strategies and metacognitive skills'.The created e-learning environments should encourage the application of learners' metacognitive skills by prompting learners to plan, attend to relevant content, and monitor and evaluate their learning. This position paper sets out to inform policy makers, educators, researchers, and others of the importance of a metacognitive elearning approach when designing instruction using Course Management Systems. Such a metacognitive approach will improve the utilization of CMSs to support learners on their path to self-regulation. We argue that a powerful CMS incorporates features and functionalities that can provide extensive scaffolding to learners and support them in becoming self-regulated learners. Finally, we believe that extensive training and support is essential if educators are expected to develop and implement CMSs as powerful learning tools. The educational technology revolutionSince the late 1990s, the utilization of CMSs for web-based instruction has steadily increased in higher education. The implementation of CMSs in universities followed on the revolution of educational technology that promised better quality, learner-centred education and claimed that it would deliver more independent and active students (Swinney, 2004). E-learning delivered electronic learning materials to distant learners and it was considered to be the new vehicle that would lea...
This paper is the first attempt to present the results form a pilot experimental research the authors conducted with high school students to examine their worldviews with regard to the implementation of the "credition" model in Religious Education. It was implemented in the 2nd grade of high school in selected topics. The research was held in the lessons of Religious Education during the whole school year. The authors examined the impact of the model on the students' worldviews when it is integrated with a worksheet, which was used as questionnaire (research tool). The topics to work with were selected from the expected learning results of the new curricula for Religious Education. The experimental research was qualitative semi-structured interview and aimed to examine, when the teacher implemented the "credition" model into her teaching, how this influenced the students and helped them realize their emotions, their strength and how they subsequently changed their attitudes and life choices and future orientation. The teaching with the model was implemented in the students of two different classrooms, one who had received explanations and guidelines beforehand and the other who had not received any explanation. The results showed that the students of the classroom who had received explanations realized better their emotions than the students of the other classroom who had not. The results were encouraging to make the authors repeat the research again this year to the 3rd grade students and proceed to the forming of a teaching model for working with the model in Religious Education.
Cooperative co-learner agents can achieve an almost natural human-computer interaction. Agents are life-like computer characters that can interact with learners. They do so by picking up phrases from a database, according to predefined set of rules so as to achieve effective communication. We introduce the design of a software agent capable to collaborate with a learner in asynchronous e-learning environment. It offers new opportunities in e-learning as it integrates collaborative learning in a manner that challenges traditional methods of pedagogy and benefits the learning process.
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