Elizabeth Koh

Teacher Perceptions of Games in Singapore Schools

With the proliferation of entertainment games, supported by heavy investment in the underlying technologies, educators are now examining the educational values of gaming and attempting to incorporate games into their teaching. In Singapore, the game sector is worth many million Singapore dollars (SGDs), and gaming is an engaging activity of the young. Using a survey, this study examined the use of games and simulations in schools. The study was designed to shed light on the use of gaming activities in learning, perception of adoption and use, and problems encountered in teachers’ attempts to adopt games. Factors related to teaching level, experience, and subject were also analyzed for possible influence on teachers’ perceptions of game-related learning.

Using online collaboration applications for group assignments: The interplay between design and human characteristics

In recent years, educators and students are increasingly employing online collaboration applications such as Google Docs(TM) and PBWorks(TM) for group projects and assignments. Yet, the effectiveness of these emerging technologies has not been rigorously examined. Anchoring upon and informed by the existing literature, two design characteristics - sociability and visibility, and two human characteristics - gender and age, are focused on, which are salient in online collaboration applications. A field experiment was conducted to examine the direct and moderating effects of design and human characteristics on learning outcomes. The research found that sociability improved process satisfaction and positive social environment while visibility enhanced academic performance and solution satisfaction of learners. Males had higher solution satisfaction while older learners had higher academic performance. Moderating effects were also found. Both theoretical and practical implications are drawn. In particular, a rubric for online collaboration application selection for academic performance is conceived. This study provides empirical support for online collaboration application effectiveness in education which will augur well for future adoption, use and evolution.

An Analytic Frame and Multi-method Approach to Measure Teamwork Competency

Teamwork is gaining importance as a competency for the 21st century learner. Yet, it is a difficult multi-dimensional concept to measure. Past research has adopted various models and methods to measure it. This exploratory study develops an analytic frame for teamwork competency. It comprises six dimensions and includes both the cognitive and affective aspects of teamwork. A multi-method approach is proposed to measure the dimensions using manual and semi-automated text analysis, event log analysis as well as survey methodology. Its advantages include fairness and efficiency. This measurement approach is based on a collaborative learning setting with 3-4 member teams collaborating using synchronous chat. This allows the measurement of teamwork in naturalistic student group settings. Also, this approach intends to be transportable which facilitates adoption in various subjects.

Too Early, Too Bad: Uncovering and Understanding the Initial Participation Paradox in Technology-Mediated Learning Teams

Research Problem: Time is of the essence in technology-mediated teams. However, research has been inconclusive about the impact of team participation on outcomes. A possible reason can be found in the temporal dimension; particularly, we refer to the time points examined in relation to the entirety of the period. Indeed, we can find research attention on initial participation (IP) in fields such as social psychology. IP refers to the contributions of team members during the earlier half of the teams lifespan. Comparable efforts are in want in information systems contexts where the relevancy and saliency of IP is no less. Research Questions: Does IP affect outcomes of technology-mediated teams? Do team size and task type affect IP in technology-mediated teams? Literature Review: Based on a review of literature that includes group development, information overload, and integrative complexity, we discover an IP paradox. More intense IP, in terms of amount and equality, could decrease outcomes, namely, task performance, team learning, and outcome satisfaction. Moreover, two cornerstone boundary conditions of teamwork, team size and task type, could affect IP. Methodology: A quantitative field experiment with 49 technology-mediated learning teams that involved 245 participants was conducted. These teams used a wiki to complete a task in a course in higher education. Data were collected from a pretest survey, posttest survey, and electronic records of the wiki (editcount and wordcount). Qualitative data from participants were also sought for the sake of triangulation. The data were analyzed using partial least squares. Results and Discussion: The results show that higher IP amount and equality decreased task performance and outcome satisfaction as predicted. However, higher IP amount did not significantly affect team learning although this was significant in the hypothesized direction for IP equality. As for team size, larger team sizes increased IP amount but lowered IP equality. Task type did not affect IP amount and contrary to our prediction, multiple solution tasks instead of single solution tasks decreased IP equality. Nevertheless, the findings support the notion that higher IP leads to detrimental outcomes. This suggests the importance of coordination mechanisms in the initial period especially in time-limited teams. For instance, knowledge leaders and facilitators can step up to organize and reduce information overload during the initial period to ensure an easier time synthesizing in the later period and better task performance. The current work was limited in terms of using only objective data for participation amount and equality. Future research could involve a combination of perceptual and objective data as well as other types of participation constructs, such as task related, norms and rules, and socioemotional acts for a richer insight into the IP paradox.

Situating learning analytics pedagogically: towards an ecological lens

Learning Analytics (LA) is both a growing trend and an increasingly prominent feature of contemporary twenty-first century teaching and learning that has captured the attention and imaginations of ...

Text mining approach to automate teamwork assessment in group chats

The increasing use of chat tools for learning and collaboration emphasizes the need for automating assessment. We propose a text mining approach to automate teamwork assessment in chat data. This supervised training approach can be extended to other domains for efficient assessment.

Learner Adaptivity: An Initial Conceptualisation

In an ever-changing world of the twenty-first century, learners need to be able to adapt. Adaptivity cuts across knowledge in various domains; it is a life skill as well as an attitude towards learning, work and life in general from childhood to adulthood. This chapter explores the various facets of adaptivity by examining it with an etymology and concept map. The importance of learner adaptivity is discussed through the various frameworks and review of literature from two main bodies of work: formal education and work, including concepts such as cognitive flexibility, adaptive expertise, career adapt-abilities framework, and the individual adaptivity theory. While there are differences in the two bodies of work, five commonalities can be drawn. Our conceptualisation follows a dispositional approach of learner adaptability which focuses on learner adaptivity as an individual construct. An attitudes, skills, and knowledge framework of learner adaptivity is developed based on the review.

The effectiveness of educational technology: a preliminary study of learners from small and large power distance cultures

The cultural background of learners has been highlighted as crucial in determining the effectiveness of educational technology. This paper focuses on the influence of power distance in determining the effectiveness of educational technology. Utilizing a multiple case study, we examined the perception of learners from small and large power distance societies in terms of satisfaction with learning, self-efficacy with educational technology and perceived learning. Our findings show that the availability of educational technology enhances the learning outcomes of both cultures. The study suggests the notion that learning outcomes differ for learners from small and large power distance cultures.

Pushing boundaries, taking risks

This is the final draft, after peer-review, of a manuscript published in Learning: Research and Practice. The published version is available online at http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/23735082.2015.1081318

The Emergence of Educational Technology

This paper traces the emergence of Information Technology (IT) for educational purposes. It begins with a discourse on the relationship between culture and educational technology. A key premise is that culture is an important influence in education. Similarly, the evolution of educational technology is very much intertwined with culture. This paper traces educational development from the traditional times to modern times. Educational technology was initially viewed as technology in education, a sole focus on IT tools. Subsequently, a holistic perspective of the educational system was adopted, termed the technology of education. In this larger view, educational technology is informed by research from learning theories and other educational research. The paper elaborates on these theoretical underpinnings with some examples of educational technology before concluding with implications for practitioners and researchers.