Yasemin Koçak Usluel

Knowledge building and the quantity, content and quality of the interaction and participation of students in an online collaborative learning environment

The processes of knowledge building, the interaction and participation of students in an online collaborative learning environment and the relations among them are investigated. The investigation involved a procedure carried out over 14 weeks in an online collaborative learning environment. During the procedure, the knowledge building process was executed over Knowledge Forum and the planning process over Moodle LMS. The scaffolds, quantity, content and quality of interaction and participation, and relations between scaffolds and the quantity of interaction and participation were reviewed. The participants were 145 prospective teachers. In this research, a convergent parallel design method was employed. Data were collected from multiple sources, including the log records and the content analysis of Knowledge Forum postings. Development was observed in terms of the use of opinion building and expressing forms and note creation and build-on of the students in the knowledge building processes within the online collaborative learning environment. Furthermore, most of the academic content and the quality of interaction and participation were indicators of progress of the individual student and groups of students. There was a significant increase in the quality of interaction and participation from the beginning of the term to the end of term. It is suggested that the 14-week knowledge building process contributed to learning. It was found that there was a significant relation between the use of opinion building and expressing forms and the creation and build-on of notes by the students. Results show that the course offered in an online collaborative knowledge building environment contributed to opinion building and expression, the quantity, content and quality of interaction and participation, and thus the learning of students. We developed a rubric to assess quality in a more profound and holistic way.We designed an online collaborative learning environment.Note creation/build-on and academic-related content and quality reveal improvement.Different but intertwined indicators affect each other.An online collaborative knowledge building environment contributes to learning.

Yeniliklerin Benimsenmesi Sürecinde Rol Oynayan Değişkenlerin Betimsel Tarama Yöntemiyle İncelenmesi

The purpose of this study is to make a suggestion to researches being published in the literature about diffusion and adoption of instructional technologies. In this way, some criteria were identified by the researchers and a descriptive review was made. As a result of the descriptive review, 65 articles have been reached that meet the criteria. Articles were analyzed in terms of key words, addressed innovation, size of working and tested hypotheses. As a result of the analysis 308 tested hypothesis were found explaining the adoption and diffusion. In these hypotheses attitude, intention and usage variables were the most tested. In these hypotheses, 156 of the most frequently repeated dependent variables were related to the intention, 95 of them were related to the attitude and 57 of them were related to the usage. Intention is the most of the addressed dependent variable. It is pointed out that in the articles subjective measurements are usually made related to the usage. However, in the literature it is expressed that correlation between subjective measurement and objective measurement is weak and attitude affects usage positively but positive attitude does not mean actual usage. Also there are some uncertainties related to what the intention predict in cross-cultural studies. Starting from this point, instead of building models with attitude and intention in possible studies in which explaining diffusion, adoption and acceptance of instructional technologies as an innovation or instead of testing hypothesis predicting usage with intention and attitude; it could be proposed that there is a requirement in terms of theory and practice for conducting studies which are intended explain actual usage in educational context.

English version of Social Networks Adoption Scale

This paper provides a validation of the English version of the Social Networks Adoption Scale.English version of the Social Networks Adoption Scale consists of 19 items and 5 factors.The scale demonstrated good reliability and validity.The scale can provide an insight to educators about the adoption process from different cultures. The purpose of this study is to validate the English version of the Social Networks Adoption Scale developed by Usluel and Mazman (2009). The original scale consists of 21 items and 5 factors that include usefulness, ease of use, social effect, facilitating conditions and community identity. An online sample of 109 Facebook users completed an internet version of the translated the scale from the USA, Germany, Turkey, and Canada. For the scales structural validity, first and second order confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. Cronbachs Alpha coefficients (0.90) and item total correlations were calculated to investigate reliability of the scale. Through validity study it was proven that English version of the scale was consisted of five factors. But as a result of the second order confirmatory factor analysis, correlation between social influence variable and adoption variable was found to be insignificant. Therefore, two items included in the social influence factor were extracted from scale. The results indicated that the English version of the Social Networks Adoption Scale consisting of 19 items and 5 factors provided valid and reliable measures of social networks adoption. The Social Networks Adoption Scale can provide an insight to educators about the adoption process of international students from different cultures who seek to use Facebook for educational purposes.

Students’ approach to social network in educational context

The properties of Web 2.0 have caused discussion in the educational context. The awareness of the students regarding the potential of Web 2.0 also made up a portion of this discussion. Therefore, the aim of this study is to respond to the question of how elementary school students use Web 2.0 and depending on the usage of Web 2.0 it is aimed to discuss Web 2.0 in general and social network in specific for education. This research, case study, is carried out in depth to determine; elementary school students’ Web 2.0 usages. The 25 participants are students chosen with the ‘maximum diversity sampling’ technique. The data are gathered by interview and focus group discussions. Content analysis was used. As a result, it is determined that students grouped under five categories which were identified as: viewers, communicators, collaborators, information seekers and producers. It is also determined that students do not fully use the cooperation and sharing properties of Web 2.0 and usually play a passive role in...