Conceptual framework for knowledge-based learning environments

The traditional concept of ”one-size-fits-all” educational and training programmes is no more fully adequate to meet the increasing demand worldwide. E-learning, as an alternative approach to traditional face-to-face education, is creating immense challenges for educational institutions to develop new approaches for the production and delivery of cost effective and efficient e-contents. Although, there have been many developments in web-based programmes, they have not fully attained their potential due to a variety of factors. These include: 1) lack of exchangeability between learning materials, 2) delivery mechanisms incompatible with the pedagogical design, 3) low student interaction and insensitive learning processes, 4) absence of intelligent online programme advice and guidance, 5) inflexibility in meeting diverse needs, and 6) institutionally centred ineffective implementation strategies. This paper addresses the critical elements for successful delivery of e-learning environments and then focuses on proposing a framework for the development of an integrated knowledge-based learning environment which has the potential to producer cost effective and personalised training programmes.

Effects of Perceived Teacher Support on Student Behavioral Engagement in the Blended Learning Environment:Learning Experience as a Mediator

Blended learning(BL)has been widely adopted to improve students’academic achievements in higher education.However,its success relies mainly on student engagement,which plays an essential role in active learning and provides a rich understanding of students’experiences.The study utilized three self-designed scales-the Teacher Support Scale,Student Engagement Scale,and Student Learning Experience Scale-to gauge and examine the impact and relationship between perceived teacher support,student behavioral engagement,and the intermediary role of learning experiences.A cohort of 899 college students undertaking the obligatory College English course through BL modes across five Chinese universities actively participated by completing a comprehensive questionnaire.The results showed significant correlations between perceived teacher support,learning experience,and behavioral engagement.Perceived teacher support significantly predicted students’behavioral engagement,with socio-affective support exerting the most substantial predictive effects.All predictive effects were partially mediated by learning experience(learning mode,online resources,overall LMS-based learning,interaction with their instructor and peers,and learning outcome).The influence of perceived teacher support on behavioral engagement differed between students who reported the most positive(vs.negative)learning experiences.Suggestions for further research are offered for consideration.

Lecturers’Efforts in Building Rapport in the English-Medium Instruction(EMI)Context:Focus on the Use of Communication Strategies

Past studies reveal the prevalence of anxiety,coupled with low motivation and disengagement among students in English-medium instruction(EMI)programs.Given the detrimental impact these negative emotions can have on learning outcomes,it is imperative that teachers establish positive emotional rapport with their students.This study explores how experienced and highly rated EMI lecturers at a Chinese university’s overseas campus use communication strategies to build rapport with their students during interactive academic activities.It identifies the strategies used by these lecturers and examines how the strategies facilitate the teaching-learning process.The data,consisting of 10 hours of tutorials and 10 hours of supervisor-student supervision meetings,is analyzed using an adapted Conversation Analysis(CA)approach.The analysis reveals three types of communication strategies(CSs)frequently used by lecturers:back-channeling,codeswitching,and co-creation of messages.By employing these strategies,the lecturers established a strong rapport with the students,which created an encouraging and supportive learning environment.Consequently,this positive atmosphere facilitated students’learning of content knowledge through English.The findings of this study have implications for the training of lecturers who encounter difficulties in establishing rapport with multilingual students in the EMI setting.

The Experience of Setting up a New Learning Environment Model in Management Education： Challenges and Frustrations

The aim of this paper is to describe and to reflect on the experience of the authors in setting up a new model of learning environment in management education in a University in Brazil, which was initially called Management Practice Laboratory （MPL）. The MPL environment was conceived as a physical and conceptual space where students could learn and practice the principles and techniques of working in organizations in its three levels operational, tactical, and strategic. The foundations of the project come from social constructivist perspective on learning, from experiential learning literature and from researches that call for a new epistemological ground in management learning. In this paper, the authors will stress some challenges and frustrations with the project since these could be helpful to those interested in similar initiatives. Due to limited space, only two challenges will be stressed： （1） the construction of legitimacy for the project; and （2） the persistent dissonance between theory and practice. The authors conclude that there is room for innovation in the way management is taught and learned in universities since one shows courage to overcome the challenges and frustrations one will certainly deal with

Collaborative Virtual Learning in Education in STEM Education

There has been a recent explosion of interest from academics across a wide range of disciplines in the use of Multi-User Virtual Environments for education,driven by the success of platforms such as Internet Communication Technology learning skills in higher education.While digital virtual worlds are used in the 21st century learning,advances in the capabilities and the spread of technology have fed a recent boom in interest in massively multi-user 3D virtual worlds for entertainment,and this in turn has led to a surge of interest in their educational applications.As these platforms are used more often as environments for teaching and learning,there is increased need to integrate them with other institutional systems,Web-based Virtual Learning Environments(VLE)in particular.In this paper,we briefly review the use of virtual worlds for education,from informal learning to formal instruction,and consider what is required to turn a virtual world from a Multi-User Virtual Environment into a fully fledged 3D Virtual Learning Environment(VLE).In this we focus on the development of Moodle—a system which integrates the popular 3D virtual world of Second Life with the open-source Virtual Learning Environment.

Practices of caring for nursing students: A clinical learning environment

Objective:The purpose of this study was to explore,describe and illuminate nursing students'best encounters of caring in the clinical learning environment.Caring for nursing students was emphasized and recommendations provided to enhance caring for nursing students within their clinical learning environment.Methods:Qualitative data was collected by the researcher using semi-structured individual interviews and an Appreciative Inquiry(AI)methodology.Ten second year nursing students undertaking the bridging course leading to registration as general nurses in terms of Regulation 683 of the South African Nursing Council(SANC)were purposively sampled from 3 private hospitals within the Western Cape.Data was analysed using Giorgi's method.Results:The main theme included the best and'least best'caring practices embedded in the centrality of the heart.The subthemes comprised of the nursing students'experiences of caring literacy and caring illiteracy.The second theme included the creation of best caring practices within a conducive clinical learning environment.Within this theme,the subthemes comprised of the caring attributes required in reflecting best caring practices,as well the creation of a clinical learning environment to optimise caring.Conclusions:The significance and necessity of caring for the nursing student were clearly illustrated and confirmed by participants.Caring was equated to the heart as the core to the nursing students'being.Recommendations for nursing education,management,practice and research were therefore specifically formulated to enhance caring towards nursing students.

Investigating Affordance in Technology-Enriched Language Learning Environment Through Exploring Students’Perezhivanija

Preceding works tend to explicate affordance through supposing what is happening here and now.They seldom relate it to actual social,diachronic activities,such as foreign language learning.To tackle this issue,this study explores how students actualize affordances in technology-enriched language learning environment(TELLE)by examining their perezhivanija(lived and emotional experience),a term borrowed from sociocultural theory.Because an individual’s social life is a developing process or a perezhivanie2,it is necessary to base the research in a dynamic development of language learning to figure out how the affordances are actualized.Narrative interviews were adopted to collect data from three Chinese college students who learn English as a foreign language in a Northeastern university in China.The results showed that due to the students’different past perezhivanija in English learning,their present interpretations of the perceived affordances in TELLE varied.This influenced hugely in their actions taken during their English learning in college to actualize the affordances.The findings indicated that the actualization of affordances is historical,dynamic and developmental instead of static.It does not lie in the autonomy of the students or the teachers,but in the institutional and cultural legitimacy of technology use in student’s social life.The paper contributes to the application of affordance theory in foreign language learning and provides implications to language teaching practice in TELLE.

IoTFLiP： IoT-based flipped learning platform for medical education

Case-Based Learning （CBL） has become an effective pedagogy for student-centered learning in medical education, which is founded on persistent patient cases. Flippped learning and Internet of Things （IoTs） concepts have gained significant attention in recent years. Using these concepts in conjunction with CBL can improve learning ability by providing real evolutionary medical eases. It also enables students to build confidence in their decision making, and efficiently enhances teamwork in the learning environment. We propose an IoT-based Flip Learning Platform, called IoTFLiP, where an IoT infrastrneture is exploited to support flipped case-based learning in a cloud environment with state of the art security and privacy measures for personalized medical data. It also provides support for application delivery in private, public, and hybrid approaches. The proposed platform is an extension of our Interactive Case-Based Flipped Learning Tool （ICBFLT）, which has been developed based on current CBL practices. ICBFLT formulates summaries of CBL cases through synergy between students＇ and medical expert knowledge. The low cost and reduced size of sensor device, support of IoTs, and recent flipped learning advancements can enhance medical students＇ academic and practical experiences. In order to demonstrate a working scenario for the proposed IoTFLiP platform, real-time data from IoTs gadgets is collected to generate a real-world case for a medical student using ICBFLT.

Comparison of Higher Education between China and New Zealand in Learning

At present,many students finish high school and enroll the university education.University learning is very important education part in students'life,they are thinking about themselves,improve their identity and values,change their aims,produce knowledge and take skills into the future life and working.University offer different courses to learn,they interest in Arts,Commence and Science and satisfy all students'needs.There is an increasing number of Chinese students choose to study in New Zealand because they believe it is a safe place,it is cheaper than the other countries,and because New Zealand is an English speaking country.Most of the New Zealand universities offer foundation courses which give international students the opportunity to bring their English language skills and academic performance up to university entrance standard.This study is to find out Chinese and New Zealand higher education with some different aspects from curriculum,learning environment and evaluation.

A Hybrid Virtual Cloud Learning Model during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the educational systems worldwide,leading to the near-total closures of schools,universities,and colleges.Universities need to adapt to changes to face this crisis without negatively affecting students’performance.Accordingly,the purpose of this study is to identify and help solve to critical challenges and factors that influence the e-learning system for Computer Maintenance courses during the COVID-19 pandemic.The paper examines the effect of a hybrid modeling approach that uses Cloud Computing Services(CCS)and Virtual Reality(VR)in a Virtual Cloud Learning Environment(VCLE)system.The VCLE system provides students with various utilities and educational services such as presentation slides/text,data sharing,assignments,quizzes/tests,and chatrooms.In addition,learning through VR enables the students to simulate physical presence,and they respond well to VR environments that are closer to reality as they feel that they are an integral part of the environment.Also,the research presents a rubric assessment that the students can use to reflect on the skills they used during the course.The research findings offer useful suggestions for enabling students to become acquainted with the proposed system’s usage,especially during theCOVID-19 pandemic,and for improving student achievementmore than the traditional methods of learning.

TELF-PSPOC: Three-layer Ensemble Learning Framework for Predicting Student Performance of Online Courses

Virtual learning environment(VLE)MOOC provides large-scale data of resources,activities,and interactions within a course structure for predicting student performance.But it is challenging to extract and learn efficient features from student behaviors.In this paper,a three-layer ensemble learning framework for predicting student performance of online courses(TELF-PSPOC)at an early phase is proposed to analyze data collected from Open University Learning Analytics Dataset(OULAD).First,feature augmentation of student behavior is proposed to enrich current features of student performance,including pass rate and grades of all staged tests,daily clicks of online resources.Second,three-layer ensemble feature learning with heterogeneous classifiers(TEFL-HC)is proposed to benefit the integration of tree model and neural network.Compared with current two-layer ensemble learning,pretraining of features prevents overfitting while using nonlinear regression.The experiment shows that our TELF-PSPOC performs better than several baseline models.Besides,the relationship of the learning results and student behavior via VLE is further discovered.

The Influence of the Learning Environment on Learner Autonomy： A Comparative Study of Polish and Yemeni EFL Undergraduate Learners

The goal of autonomous language learning is to create an atmosphere where learners take charge of their own learning. Creating this atmosphere encounters various challenges which are partially context-specific. Influenced by the learning environment, learnners of different educational contexts vary in their degree of autonomy. The present study examines the impact of the learning environment on learner autonomy at higher education. The study focuses on the differences between Polish and Yemeni EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners with respect to their autonomy in language learning. A questionnaire was distributed to a total of 140 （59 Polish and 81 Yemeni） undergraduate learners. The questionnaire was coded into seven categories： beliefs and attitudes, planning, management, self-regulation, sources and materials, in-class responsibility, and out-of-class responsibility. Data were analysed quantitatively via SPSS （Statistical Product and Service Solutions）. Independent Sample t-Test is used to investigate the differences between Polish and Yemein learners and Pearson Correlation is used to perform correlational analysis among the seven categories. The results show significant differences between Polish and Yemeni learners in some of the categories as well as a significant correlation among other categories

Design Path of Ecological Learning Environment Based on Spatial Resilience

Nowadays,the city’s focus on education makes the improvement of learning environment become a new demand for development.From the the perspective of ecology,the theory of"resilience"is introduced to break the stereotype of the existing learning environment and create a space for dialogue with nature from inside to outside.At the same time,the learning environment is divided into observation learning space,exploration learning space and communication learning space by theory and method of multiple intelligence integrating teaching and learning.Through the analysis on resilience characteristics of three types of space,eight basic unit forms of learning environment design are obtained.Arrangement and combination of its form can improve the campus environment,increase children’s learning efficiency and the risk response ability of campus environment,and give children the opportunity to interact with and understand nature in the learning process,so as to provide reference for the diversified development of education and learning space.

Effective Learner-Lecturer Interaction Working With a Virtual Learning Environment

Using the Internet to learn a language creates wide opportunities to enhance learning （Association of teachers of English in Catalonia （APAC）, 2010）. The Internet activities promote learners＇ self-monitoring ability, encourage the use of multimedia and network technology, and develop students＇ cooperation and participation. During the latest years, there have been many changes in education as these new technologies, including VLEs （Virtual Learning Environments）, which have become an important part in the teaching/learning process. According to Tech Terms Computer Dictionary （2012）, VLE is a virtual classroom where teachers and students communicate. VLEs have evolved as at an early stage, they were only ways of transmitting information： Teachers uploaded the multimedia resources and students read this information. At a higher stage, VLEs have become interactive. This means that students become active. We have designed a virtual environment where students, weekly, must contribute their opinions and comments in response to a required activity uploaded by the teacher. In this paper, we describe this weekly task and analyze students＇ opinion about this planned activity. The students become an active subject in this field. In this paper, we show how VLEs are no longer a means of transmitting information but a means of interaction as well as a way of motivating our students to be involved in their learning process

Learning the English Language the Fun Way Through Virtual Learning Environment： A Proposal

Learning is a difficult concept to define, let alone gauge. While the students are learning, their learning is far from ideal or from what the lecturers had intended. Ramsden＇s findings suggest that there are different levels of learning and that the majority of students are not attaining the level that lecturer＇s judge to be of value. Learning the English language can be fun through the use of a Virtual Learning Environment （VLE）. Obviously, the trend nowadays is the application of modern technology. Students can now get learning applications on their mobile phones, IPhones, IPads, and ITouch to widen their vocabulary and to increase their knowledge in the four skills such as, Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking. The accessibility of learning materials from the library can now be made available anywhere and anytime for students and teachers. This paper seeks to answer the following questions： （I） What is VLE？ （2） What are the purposes of establishing VLE in a university？ （3） How will the contents make student learning possible？ （4） What will its impact on student learning be？ The author believes that learning ＂how to learn＂ （metacognition） can be improved and enhanced for the students. The VLE serves as a supplementary learning tool in attaining such a goal.

An Empirical Study of Listening Comprehension Strategies in Autonomous Learning Environment

This is a report on an empirical study of listening comprehension strategies in autonomous learning environment which was conducted among the second-year non-English majors in Shandong University （Weihai） on the basis of O＇Malley and Chamot＇s theory of learning strategies, dating from September, 2010 to January, 2011. The study aims to verify the teachability of listening comprehension strategies, the enhancement of students＇ awareness of applying these strategies in their listening comprehension pratice and positive effects of listening comprehension strategies cast on students＇ listening comprehension proficiency. Questionnares on listening comprehension strategies were conducted at the beginning and at the end of the research respectively, in addition to the listening comprehension strategies training from the beginning to the end of the research. Besides, there was a interview arranged in the middle of the research. Meanwhile, there were two listening comprehension proficiency tests arranged at the beginning and at the end of the research. According to the results, it can be indicated that the students＇ strategy awareness can be promoted, while their listening proficiency also can be improved by the listening comprehension strategy training.

Tunisian DREEM: Nursing Students’ Perception of the Learning Environment

Objectives: The evaluation of the learning environment has become critical to professional development and student success. This study aims to evaluate the viewpoints of nursing sciences students on the learning environment using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) at a Higher Institute of Nursing Sciences in Tunisia. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 200 students at the Higher Institute of Nursing Sciences. The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure was used as a worldwide tool. Descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance with a post hoc Tukey-Kramer multiple comparisons test were used for data analysis. Results: The total mean score on the 50-item DREEM inventory was 111.9 out of a maximum of 200. Students’ perceptions of learning, their teachers, their academic self, and of the atmosphere were more positive than negative. Student social self-perception was negatively evaluated. Students were not satisfied with the support system in the institute. The DREEM score was significantly higher for the students in the first year of study (P Conclusion: This is the first study in Tunisia assessing the nursing learning environment;it showed a positive assessment. Therefore, improvements are required, especially in the learning and social domains of the educational environment.

Factors Affecting the Adoption of E-Learning Systems in Public Higher Learning Institutions in Tanzania: A Case of Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA)

In most developing countries, governments attempt to enforce the movement from analogue to digital for all their sectors, from public to private. These technological advancements have been noted to bring necessary and unavoidable changes to businesses and learning environments. Higher learning institutions have adopted various e-learning systems to support learning, research, and publication activities to stay competitive in global academic systems. However, most public higher learning institutions in Tanzania lag behind in the adoption of these systems. Thus, research shows a failure of these institutions in utilising the full benefit that today’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can offer in learning environments. Thus, this study examines factors affecting the adoption of such a system in developing countries like Tanzania, taking the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA) as a case study. The study used a mixed methodology where thematic and descriptive analysis was used to analyse both qualitative and quantitative research data. The study population was 187 teaching staff, a sample size of 126 was obtained, and 157 study participants were involved in the study. The study found that factors affecting the adoption of e-learning systems in public higher learning institutions in Tanzania include lack of ICT infrastructure, lack of technical and managerial support and lack of computers and e-learning knowledge among facilitators. Thus, the study recommended investments in adequate and reliable ICT facilities, high intermate speed and bandwidth, and policies that support e-learning and training programs about e-learning knowledge and use. Also, this study recommends the use of the Multi-Factors Adoption Model (MFAM11) for the successful adoption of an e-learning system in public higher learning institutions in Tanzania.

Creating Optimal Language Learning Environment

From the viewpoint of psycholinguistics, this paper concerns how to create an optimal language learning environment in language learning, to stimulate students enthusiasm to participate in classroom activities and to make language learning easier and more pleasant.

Research on Collaborative Learning in Network Learning Environment

This paper summarizes the basic content of network curriculum design based on online learning mode and the basic flow, as well as network course should have the factors that suitable of the mode and attention matters in the design collaboration mode of network course. Based on this, other researchers and practitioners can conveniently and effectively design network course based on the cooperation mode. Through the analysis of the network curriculum development and the actual case, verify advantage of collaborative online learning mode.