Willem de Boer

A changing pedagogy in E-learning: From acquisition to contribution

IN OUR FACULTY’S INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES, we have changed towards a blend of teaching and learning in which course Web sites are often being used as environments where learners can contribute their own experiences, or those of other persons, in their work environments. These submissions are not only assignments in a course or module, but also objects that become part of the learning resources of others. In university learning situations, this is a way to engage students more directly in the learning process as contributors as well as consumers of pre-selected learning materials. We conceptualize this pedagogical shift in terms of a move from an acquisition orientation to a contribution orientation. This change of orientation relates to one of several dimensions that we feel are critical for pedagogical decision making. We include a current example related to pedagogical dimensions and in particular to this contribution-oriented pedagogy.

Building on learner contributions: a web-supported pedagogic strategy

Since 1997, the authors have been involved with the increasingly widespread use of a Web-based course-management system called TeleTOP not only in their own university but also in other universities and training settings. The implementation of TeleTOP was accompanied with an emphasis on a pedagogy that was new to almost all of the instructors involved: that of shifting the focus in a course from the presentation of content to the facilitation of learners making contributions to the course TeleTOP environment, contributions that serve as subsequent learning resources for others in the same course and can be re-used as resources in other versions of the courses and other settings. This article describes the theoretical basis for the approach, illustrates how the pedagogy works in practice and gives some of the results. Construire à partir des apports des apprenants: une stratégie pédagogique par Internet. Depuis 1997, nous avons été impliqués, de plus en plus, dans lutilisation dun système de cours appelé TeleTOP, non seulement dans notre université mais aussi dans dautres établissements de formation. Nous avons implanté TeleTOP grâce à une pédagogie nouvelle aux yeux de la plupart des enseignants: celle consistant à passer de la simple présentation du cours à la possibilité pour létudiant de participer à lélaboration même du cours TeleTOP. Ces contributions ont pu être utiles à dautres étudiants mais ont aussi pu servir à lélaboration dautres versions de cours. Dans cet article, nous décrivons les bases théoriques de notre approche, nous montrons comment cette pédagogie fonctionne dans la pratique, et donnons quelques résultats. Das Einbauen von Anfängerbeiträgen: Eine Web-basierte pädagogische Strategie. Seit 1997 sind wir mit der zunehmend verbreiteten Verwendung eines Web-basierten Kursmanagementsystems, genannt: TeleTOP, befasst , nicht nur in unserer eigenen Universität, sondern auch an anderen Universitäten und Ausbildungsstätten. Wir haben die Einführung von TeleTOP schwerpunktmäßig mit einer Pädagogik begleitet, die fast allen betroffenen Ausbildern neu war: nämlich, dass im Laufe eines Lehrgangs der Fokus von der Darstellung des Inhalts zur Möglichkeit, über Eigenbeiträge der Lerner selbst Kursmaterial zu TeleTOP hinzuzufügen, das anschließend für andere Kursteilnehmer oder auch für andere Kurse als Lernressource wieder genutzt werden kann, gerichtet wird. In diesem Artikel beschreiben wir die theoretische Basis für unseren Ansatz, erläutern, wie die Pädagogik in der Praxis funktioniert, und teilen einige unserer Ergebnisse mit.

Scaling up from the pioneers: The TeLeTOP Method at the University of Twente.

At the Faculty of Educational Science and Technology, University of Twente, in The Netherlands, pioneer faculty members have been making innovative use of WWW-based course support sites since 1994. By 1996, seven instructors were active; by the first part of 1999 more than half the faculty were involved, and the rest will be joining soon (in a systematic plan, all the first-year courses in 1998, the second-year courses and many of the senior electives in 1999, etc). In addition we are working with other faculties, to support the same progression. How are we doing this? In this article, the TeleTOP method (http://teletop.edte.utwente.nl) will be described, showing clearly how it has developed based on an implementation model and the experience we had already acquired with innovative use of the WWW for our courses. The eight aspects of the TeleTOP method, including the pedagogical principles, the change strategies, the instructor-engagement strategies, and the technology, wi ll be described, and illustrated with examples from the courses that have now been redesigned. In particular, results after the first year in terms of usage, of instructional choices made by the instructors, of the diversity of instructional approaches that are supported, of the on-going formative evaluation, and of the adaptation of the TeleTOP method for another faculty with a different pedagogical culture will be given. The applicability of the TeleTOP method to other faculties and settings is discussed.

Teachers as learners: embedded tools for implementing a CMS

Teachers in higher education throughout the world are making use of course-management systems (CMS) to support their courses. None of these teachers grew up with using a CMS; they must themselves learn how to use them effectively at the same time that they are using them with their students. While institutions commonly provide some sort of introductory workshop for CMS use, these workshops have limitations in terms of their transfer value into practice. In this paper we discuss an example of embedded justin-time support within the CMS itself to help teachers learn how to use a CMS efficiently but also so that both they and their students can take on new roles in the learning process.A new form of computer-based support for teaching and learning has emerged since the late 1990s. It is a system of integrated tools that makes use of both database and web functionalities in order to make a web environment available to support a course or learning event. One name for such a system is a course-management system (CMS). Course-management systems are new tools for teachers and thus teachers must learn how to use them in a technical sense as well as in a meaningful sense. By meaningful, we mean not only to increase the efficiency of participating in a course but also to enrich and extend learning processes.While most off-the-shelf CMSs do not allow much opportunity for tailoring their products to build in such support for teachers as learners, we have taken advantage of the fact that we built our own CMS at the University of Twente to offer teachers tools for their own learning integrated within the CMS system. In this article we discuss two major learning curves for teachers when using a CMS. The first is learning to set up and manage a web environment that best fits their own course and their own students. The second is learning to design and support new types of learning activities where both students and the teacher take on new roles. For each of these, we will show the sorts of built-in teacher support that have helped us in implementing our CMS throughout our university (and also, throughout other settings including other higher-education settings in a number of countries, corporate learning, a military college and even secondary and elementary schools). Although our focus will be on various tools within the CMS itself, we will emphasize that technology will have little impact in practice without accompanying institutional support and a clear motivation for the teacher for using the technology.Teachers in higher education throughout the world are making use of course-management systems (CMS) to support their courses. None of these teachers grew up with using a CMS; they must themselves learn how to use them effectively at the same time that they are using them with their students. While institutions commonly provide some sort of introductory workshop for CMS use, these workshops have limitations in terms of their transfer value into practice. In this paper we discuss an example of embedded justin-time support within the CMS itself to help teachers learn how to use a CMS efficiently but also so that both they and their students can take on new roles in the learning process. A new form of computer-based support for teaching and learning has emerged since the late 1990s. It is a system of integrated tools that makes use of both database and web functionalities in order to make a web environment available to support a course or learning event. One name for such a system is a course-management system (CMS). Course-management systems are new tools for teachers and thus teachers must learn how to use them in a technical sense as well as in a meaningful sense. By meaningful, we mean not only to increase the efficiency of participating in a course but also to enrich and extend learning processes. While most off-the-shelf CMSs do not allow much opportunity for tailoring their products to build in such support for teachers as learners, we have taken advantage of the fact that we built our own CMS at the University of Twente to offer teachers tools for their own learning integrated within the CMS system. In this article we discuss two major learning curves for teachers when using a CMS. The first is learning to set up and manage a web environment that best fits their own course and their own students. The second is learning to design and support new types of learning activities where both students and the teacher take on new roles. For each of these, we will show the sorts of built-in teacher support that have helped us in implementing our CMS throughout our university (and also, throughout other settings including other higher-education settings in a number of countries, corporate learning, a military college and even secondary and elementary schools). Although our focus will be on various tools within the CMS itself, we will emphasize that technology will have little impact in practice without accompanying institutional support and a clear motivation for the teacher for using the technology. Course-management systems A web-based course-management system is a comprehensive software package that supports some or all aspects of course preparation, delivery, communication, participation and interaction and allows these aspects to be accessible via a network. The term web-based course-management system is not yet fixed: many different terms are also used, some of these metaphoric, such as course in a box or virtual university; some more informative, such as electronic learning environments, virtual learning environments, course-support systems, or online educational delivery applications. Just as the name is not yet fixed, neither are the possible components. Student tools can relate to web browsing, sharing and archiving of resources and work products, synchronous and asynchronous communication and collaboration, self-assessment and personal environments such as biography pages and digital portfolios. Teacher tools can include tools for course planVolume 48, Number 6 TechTrends 7 ning, managing and customizing; for lesson design and presentation; for managing assignments, feedback and (online) marking, as well as maintaining overall marks and records of student performance; and for creation, management and reuse of resources. All of these tools are generally made available via a uniform web-based user interface. The back-office aspects of the system most commonly involve a combination of a database, database technology and an HTTP server (the type of computer software that allows a computer to perform as a web server). Some variety of tools and templates integrate the user interfaces with the back-office functionalities. The templates, when used with database-driven systems, allow the user to upload or enter information into the system via form-like entries, and then see a view of what is in the database. (For a comprehensive overview, see http://www. edutoolsinfo.course/index.jsp). Helping teachers learn to use a CMS efficiently and effectively Regardless of the combination of features available in the CMS, teachers must learn to use the system efficiently and effectively. Any learning process should reflect basic learning and instructional principles. In this section, one such set of general principles is described and expanded for the particular case of teachers learning how to use a CMS. Following from this, the case for embedded tools to support teachers learning about how to use a CMS is briefly presented. Then examples from our own practice are described.

Implementation and adaptation experiences with a WWW-based course management system

Summary Members of the faculty of educational science and technology of the University of Twente, The Netherlands, have been making innovative use of WWW-based course-support sites since 1994. By 2000 all of the faculty were involved not only in using the WWW, but also more fundamentally in a new educational approach. In addition, our educational technologists collaborate with other faculties to support the same progression. How has this come about? In this article, the TeleTOP Method (http://teletop.edte.utwente.nl) is described, showing how it has developed based on an implementation model and experience acquired with innovative use of the WWW for course support. The applicability of the model to other faculties and settings is discussed.

Instructors' choices for a WWW-based course-support environment

In 1997 the Faulty of Educational Science and Technology at the University of Twente made the decision to start using the Web for course support. This was the start of a faculty-wide implementation. In the first year we started working extensively with our instructors, particularly all of those responsible for the first-year courses. Twenty courses required for all students and several senior elective courses are now using their tailored-made Web-based course-support environments. In addition, during the 1998?99 academic year all of the second-year courses were adapted to be delivered with their new course-support environments. In this paper we describe how a broad range of instructors, not only those who volunteer or have an initial interest in using WWW-based course support, but also those who are required to do so as part of a faculty-wide change process work through a design process based on rapid prototyping to evolve tailor-made WWW-based course-support environments. What are the options instructors choose for these environments and how popular are various types of options (for example, shared workspaces, WWW boards for computer conferencing, etc.) for course-support environments? Trends and implications in the set of options chosen by instructors in our faculty are discussed.

The TeleTOP Implementation Model: establishing the use of a WWW-based course-management system in a university

The process that accompanies the decision to make an institutional commitment to new ways of teaching and learning supported by a WWW-based course management system is complex. Such a process is underway in the Faculty of Educational Science and Technology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands via its TeleTOP project (http://teletop.edte.utwente.nl). A model was needed to guide the change process. In this paper, the development of the first version of the TeleTOP Implementation Model is described and an exploratory study of the generalizability of the model to other settings is reported upon. The general conclusion of this preliminary investigation is that the model appears to be generally applicable in other institutional contexts also involved in systematic change processes involving WWW-based course management systems, but that some revision of the model is needed. Based on the preliminary exploration study, an introduction to version 2 of the model is presented here.