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  Research Division  

PROJECT TITLE:

Investigate the Use of Web-Based Instruction to Enhance Individual Teacher Training
in the Multi-Cultural and Multi-Lingual Kidlink Environment

Motivation For the purpose of the present proposal we define Web-Based Instruction (WBI) as instruction delivered in whole or in part on the Web. WBI is available in many formats and several terms are linked to it: online courseware, learnware, distance education online, etc. The types of Web-Based Instruction currently available on the Web can be grouped into three categories: Stand-alone courses, Web-supported courses and Web pedagogical resources. The first two categories deal with whole courses while the third category deals with educational activities or experiences which could be part of a course. Stand-alone courses: Courses in which most materials and resources are accessed and delivered by the Internet. Most if not all communication takes place through Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). This type of WBI could take place on campus or at a school location where many of the students are physically present, but is often delivered as a distance course. Web-supported courses: Courses in which there are physical meetings of students and teachers, but many resources such as assignments, readings, CMC, or Web pointers to sites are integrated into the course activities.  Web pedagogical resources: These are WWW sites which offer material that can be integrated into a larger course or serve as a resource for an educational activity. These resources can be in various formats: text, graphics, comunication amongst individuals, animation, etc. (see Kidlink repositories and comunication strategies) Web technology applied to education accelerates changes in educational technology, questioning, for example, the emphasis on Instructional Design. Originally, specialists in Instructional Design characterized their activity as being the task of defining instructional systems to fulfill previously defined apprenticeship objectives. The constructivist movement and new communication technologies challenged this concept suggesting that this is not the only way to support apprenticeship. More and more often, people are learning without the help of instructional design. In various circumstances natural apprenticeship is more efficient than apprenticeship based on Instructional design. In time those who deal with distance education will perhaps consider themselves more as "apprenticeship technologists" than "instructional technologists" and more as "specialist in giving support to apprenticeship" than "instructional designers". Web-Based Instruction is one of the fastest growing areas on the Web, due to the recent perception of the enormous potential for the use of Web resources for this purpose. International Data Corporation identified the area of WBI as the fastest growing Internet application in the second semester of 1997. By the middle of 1996 there were over 2000 courses already offered on the Web. The Gartner Group has predicted that "by 2001, more than 75% of traditional US colleges and universities will use distance learning technologies and techniques in one or more traditional academic program".   The Need for Research on WBI As yet there are no specialists in the application of Information Technology to education and training. However, the recent perception of the enormous potential for the use of Web resources for WBI has attracted the attention of researchers in industry and the academic world, who are currently investigating and developing various models and products for WBI. The Research Division of the Kidlink Research Institute - KI/R is particularly interested in research on Web-Based Education. The Kidlink project has developed a wealth of Web pedagogical resources (item (iii) above) that can be integrated into the curriculum to serve as a support material for educational activities. The instructor’s role as facilitators for the children engaged in the highly constructivist experiences provided by Kidlink projects is not an easy task. In Kidlink’s case there is the added complexity of dealing with multi-cultural and multi-lingual issues. The need for forming instructors along with their students on the use of Kidlink resources is one of the objectives of the "Who-Am-I?" Project. To be able to reach very large audiences of teachers while providing hands-on experience on the Web, KI/R is interested in the association of Web pedagogical resources (iii) with stand-alone courses on the Web (i) and/or Web-supported courses (ii). In other words, we would like to be able to provide Web-Based Instruction on how to use Web pedagogical resources and, more specifically, Kidlink resources. The goal of the research is hard to achieve because there is a need for a previous evaluation of the effectiveness of WBI itself. To accomplish the task it is necessary to investigate how different learning theories can be used along with WBI, how easy it is to design and build WBI courses and analize the current available tools to construct WBI (the so-called Web-Based Education Environments). Research Proposal In the present document, the KI/R proposes to participating countries a research project to be carried out in parallel with the the "Who-Am-I?" program. The duration of the project is to be identical to the above mentioned project and its outcome would be a pilot WBI version of the teacher training process that will take place in the the "Who-Am-I?" project. It is a research project because it is not possible to define beforehand the precise methodology and the tools to be used and, most important of all, the form and extent of teacher’s participation. Given the natural uncertainties associated with research projects it has been divided into two parts: a feasibility study phase (two and half months) and a cooperative prototype specification and development phase to be carried out if the feasibility study is approved (five and a half months). The project is to take place between September 98 and April 99. The feasibility study phase would involve the following activities: A two-day seminar for researchers in Education and teachers covering the state-of-the-art of WBI: learning theories vs. WBI, course development using Web-Based Environments (many examples), comparison of existing WBI environments (most of them still in it’s beta versions) etc.; The preparation of a technical report on the state-of-the art of WBI and a justification of the feasibility of the prototype specification and development phase to follow; Definition of a detailed research and development plan to be carried out after the feasibility study. Research Personnel The leadership of the research effort is to be a responsibility of the KI/R research staff. The state-of-the-art seminar is to be presented by two senior members of the KI/R Advisory Committee, assisted by KI/R researchers. The technical report and detailed research and development plan will be produced by KI/R researchers under the supervision of the Advisory Committee members. Once the feasibility study is accepted, the research group will be formed by a mixed team composed of KI/R researchers and researchers and teachers appointed by NLS. Feasibility Study Costs The estimated total cost of the joint study is US$40,000.00. KI/R proposes to provide two senior researchers with experience within WBI. They will be responsible for coordination and management of the feasibility study. Partners will provide local researchers to the feasibility study whose role will be to provide the required link to local goals and conditions. The effort of the KI/R researchers is estimated at US$20,000.00 (including travel costs). The other half of the total cost is for local researchers included in the feasibility study. At this preliminary stage, the proposed concept is that local country researchers do more than ninety percent of the work associated with the main study. For more information, please contact Dr. Carlos Lucena. | Home | Project Overview | Who am I | Where do I Live | What are my Rights | | My Friends and Family | What are my Roots | Virtual Vacation | Sitemap | The Who-Am-I? program's sponsors Web version maintained by Odd de Presno. - Updated March 23, 1999 Copyright ® 1999 Kidlink . All rights reserved.