assignment articles farooqi 8530

FRIT 8530Aysha FarooqiArticles Assignment

Article Summaries Contents

Article #

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Name of the Article Author’s Name

1 2,3 The Art of Web Design Longe, H

2 4,5 See the World as Others See You

Wiight, A

3 6,7 Top Web Development Mistakes

Rapoza, J

4 8,9 The New Rules Of Web Design

Wisniewski, J

5 10,11 Good Web Designs Pay Dividends

Rapoza, J

6 12,13 The Need For Speed Dysart, J

7 14,15 Creating Your Own Web Site

Orlando, M

8 16,17 The effectiveness of Web-Based Instruction-An Initial Inquiry

Olson, T and Wilson, R

9 18,19 Web 2.0 Trend in Web Design and Development

Jennifer, S

Note: Click on the Article # to view the summary for that Article

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Article Summary #1

Research

Information Technology And The Cognitive Domain

Citation #1

Zamfir, G. (2007). Information Tehnology and the Cognitive Domain. Journal of Applied Quanitative Methods (2007) 6(2):1-2. Retrieved on January 21, 2009 from National Science Digital Library.

Summary #1

This article is about the actual researches in the cognitive domain, focused on learning about learning to imply information technology and its effects on diversity and globalization. Organizational learning process and structures can create or improve learning in a learning organization. It integrates the basic concepts in the technologically environment, based on assisted instruction. Some define it as a form of organization that enables the learning of its members in such a way that it creates positively valued outcomes, such as innovation, efficiency, better alignment with the environment and competitive advantage. This model includes 4 concepts which cannot be treated as separate: learning at work, organizational learning, developing a learning climate, and creating a learning structure. Later on the learning organization leads to its extension called “the semantic learning organization” in which learning activities are mediated and enhanced through a kind of technology that provides a shared knowledge representation about the domain and context of the organization. With the establishment of relationship between organizational learning and theories of cognition it is referred to as “cognitive perspective.”As a result of theoretical and practical researches it was learned that theory and practice interact in the educational space, and the learning system becomes the engine of the learning society. They also discovered that the technological development in the areas of information storage, retrieval and communication can be expected to alter the manner of teaching and learning. They also talked about the Bloom’s Taxonomy for the cognitive domain that involves knowledge as a process as an entry and knowledge as a product as output. The cognitive restructuring involves technological, conceptual, and cognitive infrastructures which in relation to teaching and learning has more potential functionality. Technology could be used in activities in developing learning objects, or as tools, in order

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to contribute to the completion of tasks. There are different types of knowledge like formal and informal, explicit and tacit, know-what and know-how from the point of view of assisted instruction.It has been observed that the technology converge to new technologies and products, the personal computer becomes a tool, tutor, tutee and now is a real context in education. The new conceptual framework in education is characterizes teaching as a complex cognitive skill determined by planning, teaching, and post-lessons reflections is based on assisted instruction. It helps teacher to process data, structures information, systemizes knowledge, developing educational objects. In assisted learning, Categorization, together with processing and analogical reasoning, has a special role in the in the interference of non-explicit knowledge that learner can infer from what he has seen or heard. Conceptual categories are higher order concepts expressing specific role in their contexts, and in concept mapping they are visual elements relevant to analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. They have a special role in processing explicit knowledge that a learner can receive in pedagogical dialog. Scaffolding consists in developing and using dedicated applications in order to synchronize tacit to explicit knowledge in proximal development. Modeling and coaching are parts of scaffolding.In assisted instruction, the teachers educated using the principles of computer literacy, became competent users. In traditional mode computer-assisted instruction is used to describe a tutor mode. In the tool mode, the computer solves a practical function in getting a job done as it may become a paintbrush, typewriter or an electronic spreadsheet. When computers are tutee, the roles are reversed and the student becomes the tutor. When a computer becomes a context, it integrates all forms of education in one which leads to organizational learning.

Critique #1:

I liked this article as it was about the organizational learning, which concentrates on the observation and analysis of the processes involved in individual and collective learning inside organizations. I agree that we have to use concepts from computer science to create teacher professional development models that help mentors integrate technology into curriculum. Technology influences what activities are possible and what activities may achieve. When computer is a tutor, the teachers develop, adapt, and optimize their applications based on their observations and interactions. When computers are tutee the students teaches the computer

Go to Contents and click on the Article # to view the summary of that Article

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Article Summary #2

Theory into Practice

Digital Games in Education: The Design of Games-Based Learning Environments

Citation #2

Gros, B. (2007). Digital games in education: The design of games-based learning environments. Journal of research on Technology in education, 40(1), pg 23-38. Retrieved on August 25, 2008 from Academic Search Premier Database.

Summary #2

This Article is about how the digital literacy is becoming a very important part of our children and to consider the combination of interactive features of multimedia design for education. The main idea of this article is that we need to change our teaching methods to enhance the skills that future citizens will need a digital society. The young people are introduced to the virtual world via video games and the ways they interact with the technology are changing ways of learning. If the design of learning environment is built on the educational properties of games, then it could be an appropriate way to improve learning. Digital games are user-centered and can promote challenges, co-operation, engagement, and the development of problem solving strategies.

This article is divided into 5 parts; they are Introduction to relevant research, Evolution of video games, Research on the use of video games in education, Introducing games into formal education, and some problems and challenges.American researchers look to the structural characteristics in computer games that could be used for educational and social purposes. In the last decade there has been a tremendous increase in 2 areas: structural aspects of the games such as influence of digital games in digital literacy, learning styles, skills, and the integration of videogames in schools to improve learning.

Evolution of games based on Egenfeldt-Nielsen is explained in 3 generations, first being corresponded to the description of edutainment which assumes that learning occurs with the repetition and hence the tasks were poorly designed and repetitive. The second generation was based on the cognitive approach and the learner became the center of attention. The third generation stressed the key role of providing a social context that

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facilitated asking questions and going to the right places and teacher became the central as a facilitator.When we talk about learning and games we have 3 aspects. The first being sociological approach which describes the current use of technology and try to analyze the differences in access and gender. The second aspect is the effects of learning with digital games, as videogames being the useful instruments for learning strategies and for acquiring knowledge and develops the culture of the information society. These games leave an impression on the learner, they develop skills like the ability to read images, keeping track of lot of different things at the same time, and also developed the attention skills. The third aspect is learning with games in school which can contribute to the areas of personal and social development, language and literacy, mathematics, creative and physical development, and knowledge and understanding of the world. It contributed to some great strategies important for learning like problem solving, deductive, and memorizing. It was easy to introduce task based learning and helped in group strategies but had disadvantages in regards to the amount of time it takes them to guide themselves and lack of experience. The use of videogames in school uses a methodological approach which is based on 4 types of actions: explanation, reflection, activity, and discussion. This is important as the formal learning transforms the experience of the player making specific experiences relevant in a broader context through the concepts used during exploration of the game.The teachers have the responsibility to provide elements of analysis and reflection that allow work to be done on the contents of the game but sometimes teachers with little experience are reluctant to use videogames as they feel insecure but provided the support they should feel comfortable. The teachers realize it helps in learning but with the lack of time to familiarize themselves to the game and trying to identify the relevance to the curriculum causes problems. This also shows very little evidence in the aspect of transference of the learning experienced. It does involves complex learning but also we have to be conscious of the context of learning which requires us to keep in mind how the game is contextualized, types of activities carried out, type of interaction between participants, and qualities of the critical and reflective elements of the game.

Critique #2:

The above article is very much what we are facing in the classrooms. The student these days are so involved in the games that we have to change our teaching style and method. Videogames help learning through observation and hypothesis, broadens the understanding, and increases strategies for parallel attention. The important problem is the time. I myself being a Math teacher know that these games are good to familiarize the students with the basic structure of skills and mathematical thought, and to learn and apply basic Math contents, focusing on the areas of arithmetic and geometry. I would feel comfortable and can be successful if I have time to use and familiarize myself with the instrument. We got promethean boards in all the Math classes and I just love exploring this wonderful resource and try to make our teaching and learning process more interactive. I am so EXCITED!!!


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Article Summary #3

Professional Practice

How Media Ecologies Can Address Diverse Student Needs

Citation #3

D’Arcy, Cleora J. Eastburn, Darin M. Bruce, Bertran C. (2009). How media ecologies can address diverse sudent needs. College Teaching, 56(8), pg 16-17. Retrieved on January 16, 2009 from Academic Search Premier Database.

Summary #3

This article is about exploration of new media for teaching and learning and the use of a variety of instructional media also intersects with an increasing diversity among learners. D’Arcy and Eastburn had the opportunity to study the diverse students and a variety of media while teaching the course. In an attempt to address the students’ diversity in learning style, gender, and major they presented the material using multiple instructional formats and several different types of media. They used 19 different instructional media for instruction from Fall 2003 to 2005 by groping them into visual aids, Web-based tools, face-to-face formats, and paper-based tools. They tried 14 of the media like lecture, handouts, chalk-board, videotapes, small group, whole group, in class writing, outside of class writing, a textbook, a supplemental website with text, images, and interactive exercises, and quizzes and power point notes that were accessed online. Besides this D’Arcy used overheads and color slides and Eastburn used power point slides. They started with the Learning Style inventory to determine how the individual perceives or organizes information. They also let the students complete the preferred media survey at the end of semester which helped them to access students’ perception of effectiveness of the media used for instruction. To find out why the student found particular instructional media effective and ineffective they conducted focus groups and observed students responded to a series of questions. The results were analyzed and they found that the instructors showed a increase effectiveness every semester showing that they learned how to use media effectively. Throughout the focus group the students commented to the rhythm of learning, the need for variety, and the complex interplay of in class and out class activities. They also learned that though it is true that there are differences according to student learning style or instructors teaching style but there is a need to consider the entire learning ecology. It is very important to have reflective teaching demands critical inquiry into why we do

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what we do, as well as a spirit of experimentation to provide opportunity for all students to succeed.

Critique #3 :

I think in a simple way this article has given me an insight about the demand for continual need of inquiry in teaching and learning. We need to think about the histories of learners, how technologies serve in relation to changing learning needs, and how diverse resources can be used in a concerted way. It is also helpful to explore various meanings, examples, and complexities of media, format, tool, application, approach, technology, and similar terms. If necessary the teachers have to redesign particular tools so that more students are able to learn from them after the teachers experiment with a variety of instructional media and determine what and why that is successful. I really feel that we should plan and design lessons based on the needs and necessities of the students and try different media.


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Article Summary #4

Professional Practice

Practice What You Preach: A Teacher Educator is Reminded of Important Lessons

Citation #4

Kelly, Karen S. (2008). Practice What You Preach: A Teacher Educator is Reminded of Important Lessons. Clearing House, 145(8), 145-152. Retrieved on January 31, 2009 from Academic Search Premier Database.

Summary #4

This article is written by an assistant professor of a writing project in a language arts method course. The author reflects a series of changes made to a writing project assigned as part of a language course, from integrating writing and technology to creating a high-option writing project.The author mentioned in his article as how he gave his students a project to write a children’s book and as he observed that even though his rubric did not include writing for a purpose other than a grade the students wrote the books for authentic audience. He realized that when students wrote for real reasons they believed that their writing mattered and so he tried to revise his project and provided elementary students as authentic pen pal audience. This time the students wrote books that impacted the knowledge of audience impacted choices the authors made regarding topic, wording, and format. The author brought more changes in his project in the following semester by incorporating technology by telling the students to publish their writings using multimedia authoring tool. Now the students’ project fell into 2 categories: traditional children’s book format published electronically or children’s book format with enhanced technological features. He then started providing more choices for students that created productive tensions leading to a discussion about high-option environments in classrooms.The author also reflects that it is important to engage students in learning models, the type of instruction that they can employ in future teaching. He says that all teachers should remember is to always strive for practice what you preach.

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Critique #4 :

I thought this article has a great meaning for the teachers to understand to learn that there is nothing wrong in revisiting and revising your lessons based on the necessities and needs of the students. Use of technology is such a great help not only to teach but also for the students in their learning process. I liked the way he always revised his project to make it better and better. The teachers should learn from his trials and apply that learning to their teaching environment. I always try to use different best practices while teaching Math to my students and though this article is on a writing project but hold true for any teacher. I also agree with him bout providing choices to the students as I gives them the sense of responsibility.


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Article Summary #5

Research

Strategies for Planning Technology-Enhanced Learning Experiences

Citation #5

Cowan, John E. (2008). Strategies for Planning Technology-Enhanced Learning Experiences. Clearing House, 55(5), pg 55-59. Retrieved on January 31, 2009 from Academic Search Premier Database.

Summary #5

In this article the author introduces practical strategies to support development of innovative technology-rich curriculum. He mentions that educators’ trying to integrate technology faces challenges in the classroom for instance some use pacing guides and do not have the freedom to deviate because of the accountability measures and the pressure to increase test scores. He offers strategies to support understanding o potential challenges and design of effective and successful technology-enhanced learning experiences.The first strategy is to understand the larger context of technology, curriculum, and education reform which talks about the No Child Left Behind act and its impacts on teaching, curriculum, and learning. The inequity in instruction is also because of the socioeconomic level of schools. The integration of technology might also be the issue because of lack of resources to provide necessary technical support and staff development. The nature of knowledge and curricula in school should be given consideration in planning for lessons that incorporate technology which offers an opportunity to explore new ideas for lesson planning and provides potential alternatives.The second strategy is to understand basic modes and appropriateness of computer use. There are 3 types of computer use: tutor, tool, and tutee and the capacity to use these 3 modes directly impacts by equipment available, the knowledge of the teacher, and the range of choices. The computer as a tutor is preferred when using repetitive practice strategy and its benefits include that it provides a record of progress and requires little teacher knowledge of content or technology. The computer as a tool mode provides variety of tasks such as performing calculations, creating documents, graphics, multimedia presentations, and searching on a topic. The benefit of computer as a tool is that there is more user control. The computer as a tutee mode is the highest-end use of the

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computer where it functions as the user programs it to perform and the benefit is that the user has the complete control of the learning.The third strategy is to conduct reconnaissance because while planning for a technology based lesson it is important to find out what facilities, items, or people are available for support and how to access the resources.The fourth strategy is to create a detailed lesson plan keeping the things in mind like content to be covered, skill objectives, time required, class setup, technology required to accomplish the task, and the backup plan if the technology fails. All the elements help us to accomplish an effective and successful technology-enhanced lesson.The fifth strategy is not the reinvent the wheel but to take advantage of the myriad lessons and other resources that has already been created and the last and sixth strategy is to always plan for alternative assessment and demonstrate that innovative uses of technology not only support the successful attainment of basic, targeted learning objectives but also simultaneously allow for the attainment of higher-order skills.

Critique #5 :

I truly believe that one of the main strengths of the computer is that it has the capacity to appeal to a wide variety of ability levels and learning styles. Using technology innovatively and demonstrating through alternative assessment, there are better ways to approach teaching and learning is a positive way to help students succeed and to offer an alternative vision for the 21st century education. In our county we stress on portfolio and rubrics and all the teachers are to maintain the portfolios for the students based on the rubric provided by the county.


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Article Summary #6

Theory into Practice

Students as Designers and Creators of Educational Computer Games: Who Else?

Citation #6

Prensky, M. (2008). Students as Designers and Creators of Educational Computer Games: Who Else? British Journal Of Educational Technology Vol.39, No 6, pg 1004-1019. Retrieved on February 07, 2009 from Science and Technology collection.

Summary #6

The students can build and design educational games and these games can engage and teach other students and are likely that learners will relate more to them. When talking about educational games, it is extremely important to distinguish between two broad categories: the mini game and the complex game.The mini games typically take less than an hour to play and mostly about the single subject and though they have multiple levels, but the levels are usually just more difficult examples of the same basic game mechanic. Complex games are the games that take 20 to 60 hours and have multiple levels of complex goals, challenges o quests to achieve. The skills have to be learned to achieve goals and often teams must be built and managed to do so. The mini games can be used best when breaking down the units in the curriculum and in order to do so we require a great number of games and many students will volunteer to create these games. If such a system of curricular mini-games were built-a system that could be accessed via the web by all teachers and students to manage it and that these games should not remain static but be in a state of constant update and iteration.There are some advantages like mini games can be played in a single class period, easily downloaded and can be created relatively easily and inexpensively. They can be upgraded or replaced on a regular basis. With advantages come the issues like quality control, maintenance, scoring and record-keeping but all these issues are potentially solvable.A complex game is the approach to create curricular-based games for education and engage students for long hours for entire course. But creating these games for education

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is a large, difficult undertaking. It takes years to create, test and iterate, cost a good deal of money and involve a large specialized team.There are several possible ways the student game design process could be organized and incentivized y encouraging the students to create games for materials recently covered, create games one or two levels below them, by holding a design contest. There are some practical issues and cultural issues that we have to keep in mind.Educational games designed and created by students can address either the school or after-school market, and can be created in variety of contexts. When designing games it is important to apply factors that make the games engaging for players, and then employ these factors in the design.These games makes teaching easy compared to use of old traditional teaching as now we just have to guide the students, keep them motivated, on track, and watch them learn by asking probing questions, to be sure the students conclusions are accurate and to help them evaluate quality of their own work.

Critique #6 :

According to me employing multimedia in the transfer of knowledge for the teaching improves effectiveness of learning, understanding and problem-solving in complex technical subjects, and supports the development of skills. Multimedia applications can provide enormous enrichment to the methodology of teaching, learning and learning by doing. I feel that using information and communication technologies in basic teaching forms has an impact on the impartment of knowledge itself as well as its perception by the students. This is very true as students need surprises and technology is the one where we can connect the real world to what they are leaning.


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Article Summary #7

Game Playing for Math’s learning: Cooperative or not

Citation #7

Ke, F. Grabowski, B. (2007). Game playing for Math’s Learning: Cooperative or not. British Journal of Educational technology, 249(10), pg 249-259. Retrieved on February 18, 2009 from Science and Technology Database

Summary #7

This article is about the effects of game playing on 5th grade students Math performance and attitudes. The problem of low achievement in Mathematics education has always been an issue and there have been several reforms and solutions proposed to foster mathematics learning. One of the propositions being computer games is a powerful tool with great motivational appeal and multiple representations of learning materials. Researchers found that if computer games are carefully aligned with learning strategies will be beneficial and so they combined the computer games with cooperative learning. The research was conducted by employing pre and post test experimental design to examine the effects of cooperative game playing on 5th graders math performance and math attitude compared to the interpersonal competitive game playing and control groups. Research proved that the Team-game-tournament cooperative learning technique has been very effective than the interpersonal game playing or no game playing. It was also found that it had the great performance among the boys than the girls and for economically disadvantaged students than the economically normal students.For the above research they selected 125 fifth grade students varied by gender, socio economic status, and race who had basic computer skills. They used the games developed by the Center of Advanced Technologies designed to reinforce academic standards for mathematics. Each game had real-life story problems and multiple levels for going to a higher level they had to conquer lower level correctly. The two instruments were used to determine the performance and attitude. One was the 30- item multiple choice test and the other was 40 items inventory for attitude towards math.

Critique #7 :

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I chose this article because the other assignment in this course is creating our own website and this in a broad way game me an insight about the different steps followed in creating a site and at the same time what are the things that we need to keep in mind while choosing the domain name and selecting the Web Host.At first, since I am unfamiliar with the creating of web site it seems like a dense cloud of confusion but now with little bit of insight I am looking forward to having a useful website for my students of my own.



Article Summary #8

The Effectiveness of Web-Based Instruction: An Initial Inquiry

Citation #8

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Olson, T and Wilson, R. (2002). The Effectiveness of Web-based Instruction: An Initial Inquiry. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Volume 3, pg 1-12. Retrieved on June 08, 2008 from Google Scholar Database

Summary #8

The increased use of web-based instruction (WBI) in education and training domains helps in evaluating its effects on student outcomes such as learning, performance, and satisfaction. These results are being compared to those of the conventional classroom instructions in order to determine which method is better. Computer –based instruction (CBI) is similar to WBI and cab be reviewed as appropriate benchmark to WBI.

The World Wide Web can be used to provide instructions but WBI offers learners unparalleled access to instructional resources, surpassing the reach of traditional classroom. WBI can be described using the phrases flexible navigation, richer context, learner centered and social context of learning.

The distributed learning offers increase accessibility and improvements in learning and they are consistent whenever a well designed instruction is delivered through computer. Unlike the fixed resources in conventional CBI, WBI can be conveniently modified and redistributed, readily accessed and quickly linked to related sources and hence referred as “anytime, anywhere learning.” WBI offers multiple dimensions of use in education and training whereas CBI is capable of providing direct instruction to meet individual learning objectives. The web is powerful tool for learning and teaching at a distance and consists of 8 dimensions to gain a systematic understanding of the framework1.pedagogical, 2.Technological, 3.interface design, 4.evaluation, 5.management, 6.resource support, 7.ethical, and 8.institutional.The historical findings of CBI benchmark to WBI was done by reviewing different articles on WBI and the findings were tabulated into eight characteristics along with the assessment of the experimental design, effect sizes, and the degree to which each evaluation incorporated features unique to WBI, then they came to the following conclusion.On the basis of limited number of empirical studies, WBI appears to be an improvement over conventional classroom instruction. However, it is debatable whether WBI compare favorably to CBI. There are numerous reasons why the effectiveness of the WBI may not yet be fully realized as many of the early adopters were faculty from a diversity of fields and were not trained in instructional design. Another restriction may have stemmed from the internet response delays, which are not uncommon during peak usage period.The use of Web for instruction is at an early stage of development and there has been lack of tools for instructional developers to use, but this shortcoming is beginning to change. The potential of WBI will increase as pedagogical practices improve, advances in standards for structured learning content progress, and improvements in bandwidth are made.

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Critique #8 :

One of the things I like in this article was how they discuss the various roles that the Web plays in educational courses and the importance of taking them into account when evaluating courses. Web offers many advantages like access, flexibility, enrollment, and management that must be factored in determining the overall value that the web offers to a learning enterprise.I am thankful to Web Based instruction because of which I am able to continue my further education and I really like the advantages mentioned in the earlier paragraph. This has proved to be an very effective tool in terms of education.



Article Summary #9

Web 2.0 –Trend in Web Design and Development

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Citation #9

Jennifer, S. (2008). Web 2.0-Trend in Web Design and Development. The Power of Talkinmince Article Directory, pg 1-2. Retrieved on June 08, 2008 from http://www.talkinmince.com.

Summary #9

Web 2.0 is a revolution in the world of website design, development and can be assumed as another form of web based communities like social networking sites, communities, forums and many more hosted services that aim to encourage creativity, user interactivity and sharing of views and information between users. It helped the websites and e-commerce business get new dimensions in the world of internet. Web 2.0 features added to the websites are a need for success of business on the internet. Tim Berners Lee, head of W3C Consortium and inventor of World Wide Web also announced web 2.0 a main contributor in the internet revolution.

Web 2.0 is an advanced form of web 1.0 as its technologies such as web blogs , forums, social networking sites, wikipedias, RSS feed, pod casts facilitates user interaction in contrast with the read only websites built with web 1.0. We b 1.0 was about reading, client servers, HTML, wires, home pages and so on whereas web 2.0 is about writing, peer to peer, XML, broadband and sharing. Web feeds are also a web 2.0 feature as it permits the user to manage the site's data in another context.

Tips to keep in mind while designing the web 2.0 are keep it simple, central positioning, less number of columns, making navigability easy, text size, differentiating sections, rich aesthetic appeal, self explanatory icons, labels, and large logo designs.

Web 3.0 can be defined as the future of World Wide Web and will soon capture the internet market as a whole. It has been used in some multi national companies at a small scale and will get popularize by the end of 2010. Experts are amusing that it will bring a number of innovations in the internet world of tomorrow.

Critique #9 :

I liked this article as I really wanted to know how web 1.0 and web2.0 are different. This article talks about the web2.0 and how it is beneficial over web1.0. I also read how we can come up with a good website using the web 2.o and have to keep in mind certain rules which are listed in the summary above. It is used in multinational companies and is being used in Tisindia.com. With the new innovations the web 3.0 will here before we know.

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