Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
exploration. Students using the F-hypermedia showed gains in understanding struc-
tures and behavior in the post-test than in the pre-test. On the other hand, Students
using the S-hypermedia showed gains in understanding structures, behavior, and
functions.
In Chapter 18, the authors look at the “challenges and opportunities involved in
designing, implementing and evaluating psycho-educational intervention programs
that use virtual worlds specifically designed for children.” The chapter is based on
four different case studies in which Zora was used. These are in a diverse group of
children in a multicultural summer camp, with incoming freshman at a northeastern
university, with transplant patients at Children's Hospital Boston, and with children
in a network of after-school programs. The authors in the chapter take in to account
eight consideration when designing and implementing programs that use virtual
worlds for children's development and education. These are curriculum, mentoring
model, diversity, project scale, type of contact with participants, type of assessment
and evaluation, access environment, and institutional context of usage. The authors
outline within the chapter the importance of knowing the limitations of the programs
that use virtual worlds specifically designed for children.
The authors in Chapter 19 look at systems theoretical approach of learning.
German sociologist N. Luhmann's theory and the idea of complexity and contin-
gency are used to frame the research. The aim of the chapter is to understand
learning and knowledge in this new environment that offers new possibilities for
communication, collaboration, interaction, and student-centered authentic learning.
Moreover, the authors examine the impact of the new educational environment.
Collaboration and New Science of Learning
The last part of the topic covers how collaboration is shaping, how we learn, and
what we learn. In Chapter 20, Heather Kanuka looks a text-based Internet com-
munication as tools for strategies to facilitate active and engaged learning. The
author introduces the chapter by pointing out the luck of “consistent and reliable
body of knowledge indicating that more effective learning is an outcome of the use
of Internet communication technologies” (e.g., Bernard et al., 2004). The author
also states the literature that reveals “higher levels of thinking and meaningful
learning are not being achieved through the use of text-based Internet commu-
nication tools” (e.g., Gunawardena, Carabajal, & Lowe, 2001; Kanuka, 2005;
Kanuka & Anderson, 1998; Nussbaum, Hartley, Sinatra, Reynolds, & Bendixen,
2002; Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2001; Rourke, 2005; Thomas, 2002). The
author looks at several instructional methods such as debates, invited guests,
reflective deliberation, WebQuests, and nominal group technique—all using text-
based Internet group communication tools. The author concludes that WebQuests
and debates are the most “effective pedagogical interventions” to move students
toward achieving higher levels of learning compared to invited guests, reflective
deliberation, and nominal group technique.
