Patrizia Ghislandi

Pattern of accesses over time in an online asynchronous forum and academic achievements

In this study, the participation of 119 students in an online asynchronous forum as part of an academic course on statistical methods was evaluated. The pattern of accesses during the course was analyzed by means of the cumulative mean function. Taking into account the times (hours) at which accesses occurred, it is possible to achieve more accurate and more sensitive assessment of the role of concomitant variables (gender, final mark of the high school attended, examination outcome). As far as academic achievement was concerned, it emerged that graduating probability within 3.5 years from the end of the course was related only to a regular posting activity and not to the overall number of accesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tale about Zen philosophy and a motorcycle (that is: OER & MOOC quality)

Abstract The paper introduces the concept of education quality, mainly based on a shared culture, that is a background for a permanent reflection on a process in which teachers, students, and stakeholders are involved, in a gradual improvement of their competence. People can achieve quality if they head for an open, participatory, iterative trajectory towards personal identity construction through the achievement of satisfaction of a well done work. In this context measurement tools and final quality controls are only a means “toward the end of satisfying the peace of mind of those responsible for the work” (Pirsig, first edition 1974, 2005, p.304). The also describes the Open Educational Resources and Massive Open Online Courses phenomenon, and presents the most recent studies about the theoretical framework and practical tools available in the scientific literature to scaffold the quality evaluation of open education. The discussion, taking full advantage of the literature presented, recognises that we are still in the infancy of the Open Education quality evaluation, and that the available tools have still to demonstrate their value in the applications fields, through empirical researches.

After hours. Teacher time in online learning

This paper reports the results of a research study on the problem of online teaching time.The study was based on a qualitative approach that combined digital ethnography with thematic andcontent analysis. It comprised analysis of online communications between academics and experts ofdifferent nationalities engaged in the LinkedIn professional network. Content analysis relating theseprofessional conversations enabled the authors to reach the following conclusions: a) university teacherswho deliver online courses, particularly those based on constructivist and collaborative approaches, havea perception of high workload connected to this activity; b) intrinsic motivation hence becomes crucial to ensure continuity in pedagogical practices of this type; c) the lack of acknowledgement of this activity atinstitutional level generates frustration; d) awareness of the issue and related problems seems to be scarce at the level of institutional governance and also among faculty members.

THE FUN THEY HAD OR ABOUT THE QUALITY OF MOOC

The present paper regards a systematic review of the published literature about the quality of MOOC. It dwells upon some background questions: we have to evaluate MOOC in different ways from e-learning?; what about the difference between MOOC quality assurance and MOOC quality enhancement?; what are the parameters the universities shall use to certificate the acquired MOOC credits? The paper then analyzes the published scientific literature with the goal to answer the following question: which are the most significant studies about the quality of MOOC and particularly those dedicated to quality enhancement? The conclusion is that the MOOC’s evaluation literature is still uncertain between the need to adopt a quality enhancement framework specifically created for MOOC (not many at the moment) or reuse the e-learning quality models available online. The impression is that we are in a transition phase and that MOOC are not yet a disruptive innovation, but the questions they rise (about pedagogy, assessment procedure, credits, technology, etc.) certainly will contribute to transform the quality of higher education for the generation to came.

Accessibility for e-learning quality

How can we evaluate the quality of academic constructivist e-learning? How can we guarantee its accessibility? These are the research questions addressed in a three-year research project called “Net@ccessible: teaching - learning for one and all in a lifelong plan”. Undertaken within Italy’s FIRB (Fund for Investment in Basic Research) programme, the project involves Trento University and other five Italian universities and institutions. Its mission is to promote learning and socialization among university students with and without disability by way of an e-learning environment. To evaluate the quality of this environment, the Trento research unit has created adASTRA, a set of rubrics for scaffolding the design and delivery of elearning. One of the adASTRA rubrics is dedicated to the accessibility of e-learning environments. In this paper we present a literature review of online accessibility and go on to describe the design of the accessibility rubric and its validation through qualitative research with the Net@ccessible eTutors.