Learning and Academic Analytics

Today`s post is closely connected with learning and academic analytics. As we know educational system  is changing and developing rapidly and we as future teachers should be able to reach all those changes. According to Long and Siemens (2011),  data and analysis are factors in education which we cannot  touch or see. Effective data analysis can be very useful  and effective. There two types of analytics which are used by educational institutions:

•   Learning analytics is more specific than academic analytics: According to the 1st International Conference  Learning Analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their context. Learning analytics mainly centers on the learning process.
•    Academic  analytics, in contrast, is the application of business intelligence in education and emphasizes analytics at institutional, regional, and international levels. Academic analytics reflects the role of data analysis at an institutional level. The academic analytics is  the story  of people, technology  and decision  making( Goldstein &Katz,  2005).

Nowadays many institutions created such kind of analytics in order not only to enhance the processing of  students but as well as to improve the quality of  information. Many responders were agree that academic analytics help them to improve results in the student area a lot. In conclusion I would add that unlike learning analytics academic analytics is more used in high education, as in learning analytics there are still some unclear points. 

For image http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=KCLM5u8-SMFCOM:&imgrefurl=http://www.learninganalytics.net/%3Fp%3D143&docid=j7Xp9xWEx3S1sM&imgurl=http://www.learninganalytics.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/big_data_the_moving_parts_large.png&w=1079&h=617&ei=Ksa3UPvkD6vnmAWUvYHIAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=864&vpy=372&dur=89&hovh=170&hovw=297&tx=126&ty=87&sig=109605187291664981752&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=138&tbnw=241&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0,i:117

Distance Education/Distance Learning

My current post is connected with Distance education or distance learning. Distance learning is not just a way through which people get knowledge it is need in the 21 st century. One of the best advantages which distance education courses require on-site presence.

According to Greenberg, (1998)  contemporary distance learning is  “a planned teaching/learning experience that uses a wide spectrum of technologies to reach learners at a distance and is designed to encourage learner interaction and certification of learning however, its primary distinction is that the teacher and the learner are separate in space and possibly time “.Online learning is the contemporary version of distance education, also called “distance learning” or “open learning.” If we compare distance education with face to face traditional way of teaching there are some similarities and differences. Face to face learning is more collaborative while distance learning considers to be more isolated for learners and individual. Here learners are more  autonomous and have opportunity to develop awareness. (White, J.C.2004).If we talk about distance learning teachers they should  give appropriate support to their students, tutors should be also patient and sympathetic. In distance education there is more  freedom from input and interactions which are not immediately relevant to individual (White 1997b.)
        Distance learning  suggests different courses with the help of which people can get  education, those are :

•     fully online courses 
•    educational partnership
•    hybrid /blended courses- face to face and online 

 Nowadays many people  have opportunity to get their qualification through distance learning and find better jobs. As Daphne Koller (2012), mentions in her video in the countries like South Africa many people have not opportunity to get high quality education, so here distance learning can be very good solution. According to the American Council on Education, the number of students in distance learning doubled from 1995 to 1998 totaling 1.6 million (Devarics, 2001).

Image link: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=QdF5-Lo_WIvbnM:&imgrefurl=http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/c/correspondence_course.asp&docid=CEYse4Qijy8uMM&imgurl=http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/ksm/lowres/ksmn2707l.jpg&w=300&h=400&ei=50iyUJ7UE8vImAXbpIGIDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=12&vpy=12&dur=524&hovh=194&hovw=146&tx=77&ty=88&sig=109605187291664981752&page=1&tbnh=134&tbnw=101&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:87

Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) and Personal Learning Environment(PLE)

In my previous post I was sharing my experience connected with Open Educational Resources (OER), and today`s post is connected with LMS or VLE vs.PLE. So the VLE  is Virtual Learning Environment and PLE is Personal Learning Environment. These two types of environments again were new for me and I think for my peers, which we explored during our New Technologies lass. 

Now I will try to define these two environments:

•   VLE/LMS   is more centralized , here institutional corporation or the government provides repository of content and services. Individually learners can access to LMS/VLE   and obtain the content, also the users or individuals  can have conferences with themselves, as well as interactive conferences.
•    PLE  is individual  and decentralized . Here each user can  access all over the web  iBook, you tube,  face book, Google docs etc. In PLE you manage your own data .You choose your security as well as you manage your own connection.

 Both of environments have negative and positive sides:

In LMSs two people log on to the management system after  through that management system they access. If the person does not have an account he cannot access to the LMSs collaborative environment. In PLE network  each individual directly connect with each other comparing with LMS/VLE . Here I should also mention that in PLE each user can access to unlimited courses but the quality is not always good.  

In conclusion I would say that it is always difficult to implement something new in Armenia. There are many institutions who like traditional way of teaching and do not bother themselves integrating new technologies during their classes. I hope step by step in the Armenian universities or separate individuals will be more willing to use  them.

Link for the 1 st image: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=FubvEZqVbKAOwM:&imgrefurl=http://data.bolton.ac.uk/staff/mwj1/PLE/pmwiki.php%3Fn%3DMain.PLEReferenceModels&docid=76FZSDFHmQQfqM&imgurl=http://data.bolton.ac.uk/staff/mwj1/PLE/uploads/Main/derek.png&w=909&h=612&ei=APKbUJOQFIrMmgWsz4CIBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=4&vpy=121&


Link for the 2 nd image: http://www.google.com/imgres?start=397&hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=EoUBZsaHz0QbIM:&imgrefurl=http://mohamedaminechatti.blogspot.com/2007/01/towards-personal-learning-environment.html&docid=e6lUJy5-EuMSEM&imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiBZ3EgBJAAxu258w3KFKkHFYmEJgJBUlKqUdb7osvs6SRgXcgXd2l1JtMB-Av6yiPBchlo8dhrGGY6SXrmLzLcNAAf86w2NvzEmmNqoRVoLx_lORKooNSAAOIGgyhkz4MBrg2XiY0Av5/s400/PLEF.jpg&w=400&h=300&ei=T_ObUKLSDs_omAXL0oC4CA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=652&sig=109605187291664981752&page=15&tbnh=148&tbnw=217&n

Open Educational Resources

Today`s my post is closely connected with Open Educational Resources (OER) about which I have no idea before our technology class. According to  Brown and Adler  (2008)   in today`s world people should not have one fixed career, instead people should try to have multiple careers and learn more. So Open Educational Resources can be one of the supporting resources for that. Here people can freely find different kind of courses, which I saw exploring them in terms of class .Open educational resources include also , modules , textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge (Smith,2011).  OER offer  useful resources both for teaching and learning. As  Smith (2011) claims OER help many people to increase the education and  get access to many useful resources. 

The main positive thing also is that people can get all those things freely. They also mention that no one wants to use garbage no matter the resources are close or open. Of course, lots of people work hard in order to create these kind of licensed resources which  people can use for educational purposes.  

The main disadvantage  about these resources is that many times people think open resources have default low quality and what  is selling has better quality. I myself sometimes think so. That is really fantastic when  you have such resources under your hand and can use them anytime anywhere, but many people have no idea about the existence of such resources. If we talk about the Armenian learners the implementation of OER will so challenging. I am sure that many people will not be willing to share their materials. I should say that we learned to work together and share information here at AUA. In the Armenian universities or schools students do most of the homework individually. It`s our culture sometimes we do not want to share what we have or know, as we think that belongs only to ME. That is to say we do accept or like collaborative learning. Many people may be surprised by this BUT this is true. Many learners also will not bother them to search or learn something without teacher. We like to be under pressure, we like to be checked. It is a pity but this is true for sure. 

Link for the image : http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=gKpSCWq4bCrVMM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_educational_resources&docid=g6iNiRBZCX4WBM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Global_Open_Educational_Resources_Logo.svg/300px-Global_Open_Educational_Resources_Logo.svg.png&w=300&h=200&ei=gcGTUNSJF6qLm