Exploration

Exploration

This phase explores various sections ;context,lecturers,students,content,theory of learning used and learning design model adopted.The exploration phase of the ILDF for Online Learning directs the developer to investigate and document his or her perspectives on teaching and learning and to analyze the instructional or training context(Dabbagh& Ritland,2005:121)

Context: Makerere University, School of Education history education unit. Makerere University(MU) was established in 1924 as a humble technical school. In November,2010, MU was turned in to a collegiate system with eleven approved colleges. My contextual focus is the College of Education and External Studies(CEES), School of Education(SOE), history education unit. The SOE holds the mandate to train and produce lecturers,teachers,educational managers competent to adapt,present emerging demand for skills,knowledge and practices relevant to educational research and services. One of the goals and objectives of the SOE is to improve the number and quality of innovations through embracing the use Information Communication Technologies(ICTs) in the teaching and learning process.(CEES strategic plan,2011). In congruence with this, a prototype webquest has been developed as a means of integrating ICT in the teaching and learning and also envisaged to solve the challenges in the history unit,SOE,MU highlighted below.

Over the years, the number of undergraduate students enrolling for the Bachelor of Arts with Education course degree has increased tremendously in the SOE. For example,in 2009, the number of day and evening students was 4000;in 2010 student enrollments increased to 5000; currently(2011) the number has raised to 6000 with projected enrollments indicating an increase to 8000 students by 2015/2016(CEES strategic plan,2011). The implied surge in student numbers has affected the quality of teaching and learning in the SOE.For example, taking the case of second year undergraduate students offering history education as one of their core courses; the student numbers for both evening and day programmes increased from 500 in 2010 to 700 in 2011.Surprisingly the number of lecturers appointed to facilitate the course did not increase.There are only two lecturers employed to facilitate this course implying lecturer-student ratio of 2:700. This situation prohibits the students' access to their lecturers enhancing an inactive face to face class session. With this challenge at hand, lecturers are forced to use the traditional teaching methods like the lecture characterized with over concentration on recall of information, under use or non use of instructional aids and text books.However, lecturers and text books cannot provide all the 'information necessary' well as the internet can provide students with endless amounts and sources of information. Particularly,Webquests can facilitate students' skills in reading and understanding all the endless amounts of information presented on the internet(Halat ,2008 ). Similar sentiments are shared by Cartiliner&Shark,(2008) who observed that, As text books are increasingly regarded as out-of date the moment they are published(besides getting them often requires a visit to a book store or library )people turn instead to information on the websites.

==Worse still,the SOE library is under-resourced and lacks relevant up to-date history text books which can make the pedagogical process authentic and real.The content in these history text books remains the same until the next edition is published;(O'Hanlon,2008 )many text books are obsolete before they have been used.Lecturers are in most cases the only source of knowledge and vital information available for students. It is important to note that, lecturers and text books cannot provide all the necessary historical information needed by the students. Well as the internet can be used as an alternative source to provide endless amounts of information. However, the biggest challenge students always face is the inability to find desired information among the vast information available on the internet,inability to integrate information coming from multiple sources and also inability to effectively use this information to solve problems(Leu& Kinzer,2000 cited in Segers&Verhoeven,2009). ==



The e-portfolio argues and demonstrates the theoretical assumptions informing use of a webquest as an intervention to address the challenges highlighted above.The webquest initiates an engagement of learners in searching for relevant up to-date historical information from selected websites.This makes learning real, authentic and problem solving since learners are engaged in higher level thinking ton authentic problems. Further still,webquests can be used in contexts with limited access to the computer lab.For example,the SOE computer lab houses 70 functional computers. However, due to the large student numbers, each class is accorded 1-2 hours per week to access the internet(compurer lab).This implies that,history education students can carry out internet research during the time for weekly access and leave the other components for offline sessions in the classroom. Dabbagh& Ritland,(2005) claim that, e-learning like all instructional technology delivery environments, must be rooted in epistemological frameworks to be effective for teaching and learning. Dabbagh& Bannan-Ritland(2005:118) claim that,online learning developers relie on what the context affords in order to design and develop effective online learning.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">It is envisaged that webquest will intervene and solve the challenge of limited interactivity and collaboration in the large class size history education class. Students were purposively selected to participate in the webquest prototype.The details of the webquest are presented in the enactment phase and the prototype online activity in the proceeding sections.

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Lecturers <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">The lecturers in School of Education are in different academic positions and ranks they range from professors, senior lecturers,lecturers,assistant lecturers and junior lecturers.Nearly all the academic staff have used computers and the internet in research or teaching. Some own laptops,personal computers and others use the computer lab for teaching and research.All offices in the School of Education are wired with local area net work cables and wire less network.Further still, the University through its umbrella organization MUELE organizes workshops and seminars to provide computer literacy skills to the lecturers.Almost all lecturers are comfortable with using ICT technologies like computers for searching and critically analyzing online resources for research and teaching. There is a need to transfer these information literacy skills to the students so that the goal is achieved and teaching and learning process is also achieved. However, i held informal conversations with the history education lecturer and two case study students to orientate them on how the webquest works.And also, obtain their insights on the viability of using this online activity in the history education unit. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">My experience as a teacher trainer with six year experience has enabled me believe that my learners learn in different ways. Their learning styles include, active participation and engagement in the learning process,group discussions,asking questions to fill the missing gaps,listening to lecturers(experts) and through personal readings. Lecturers should therefore use a variety of interactive teaching methods to accommodate and suit the diverse learning styles of their learners. This insight of stating how my learners learn has informed my decision to choose to a student centered online learning activity-webquest which supports collaborative social construction of knowledge under the guidance of the facilitator(lecturer).My role as a teacher trainer(lecturer) was be to scaffold the learning process by providing hyperlinks to a search engine so that students can be encouraged to search for specified information from the internet.

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Students <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">These are undergraduate preservice teachers/students in their second year of study offering a history education(methods) course as one of the course units for obtaining a Bachelors' of Arts with Education degree course. The students are enrolled on both the day and evening programmes.Currently, the history education preservice teachers are around 700 in number.These students under take an introductory computer course during their first year of study which enables them acquire basic skills in computer use. Further still, a good number of them have embraced the use social networks like face book and twitter so as to connect to their families and friends around the world. However,most of these students can not afford and therefore do not own laptops and personal computers.They therefore utilize the computer lab where each student is given 3<range type="comment" id="280508">0-40 minutes in a day to access the internet. Further still, access of text books in the library is constrained by the long queues that the students have to <range type="comment" id="651082">make to obtain the books. Some history text books are outdated and are not updated until a new version is published this creates a need of using a webquest to acquire <range type="comment" id="536974">up-to-date relevant historical information which is authentic. This implies that, students can engage with the online activity-webquest using the internet and computers provided in the computer lab. <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Content <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">The semester is about 15 weeks and the history education course is conducted with in two contact hours per week. In the content and the students are supposed to be exposed to a variety of teaching methods in a history classroom. The history education course is intended to introduce the preservice history teachers with general and basic information about teaching history in the secondary school setting. . <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">My experience as a teacher trainer has lead me to the realisation that most history teachers still use teacher-centered methods of teaching history because that is how they were taught.<range type="comment" id="58232">Zlatkovska, (2010) claims that,in the new educational paradigm,focus is more on the learner,learner autonomy ,and using computer and internet resources.It is against this background that, this online activity-webquest provides the students with specific hyperlinks on interactive teaching methods in history.In the webquest activity involved the use of Bloom taxonomy to compose questions at the different levels. The taxonomy ranges from lower to higher levels of cognitive thinking and were presented as follows:Knowledge order questions; these focused on remembering,recalling or recognizing knowledge from recall, comprehension,Application,Analysis,Synthesis,Evaluation (Wilson,2005 in <range type="comment" id="726565">Plessis,2007).

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Learning outcomes

 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Develop computer skills of analyzing ,judging and summarizing information obtained from the internet
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Ability to obtain and focus on current historical information obtained from the internet
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Embrace the idea of using interactive teaching methods in the history class room as opposed to teacher-centered methods
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Develop higher cognitive thinking skills, of analysis,synthesis.

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Learning theory <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">The need for an active and interactive history education community has informed my decision to chose the social constructivist theory in my webquest online design.Social constructivism has the dimension of community(social orientations to learning which enhances an added dimension of beliefs and values.' Beliefs and values are enculturated through experiencing meaning(possibly through problem solving) with in rich contexts where social interactions abound'(Thanq&Wang,2007:882). <range type="comment" id="197200">Th is implies that, in the prototype webquest, the two case study students searched for information on the internet, analysed consulted, with each other and come up with analyzed responses(problem solving) to the questions highlighted.The social constructivist perspective focus on the interdependence of social and individual processes in the co-construction of knowledge. Learning occurs in meaningful contexts and the facilitator guides(mediates) students into higher level thinking( Vygotsky 1896-1934).Educators world wide have began to recognize the impact of social constructivism for learning in a technological environment because of the potential for collaboration and negotiation provided with in it(Bonk& Cummighan,1997 cited in Zlatkovska,2010).The envisaged constructivist learning one would argue enhances a participatory, social knowledge construction from previous experiences among the students in contrast to the traditional rote learning.

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Learning design model adopted

<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;"> The Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland(2005)Integrative Learning design framework(ILDF) Learning design model was adopted <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;"> in this online learning activity basing on its constructivist instructional design(ID) as opposed to the behaviorist (ID).This is illustrated in the diagram below

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Figure 1; Online design learning model
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Adopted by Hodgkinson-Williams&Deacon,2011 cited in Dabbagh & Bannan-Ritland,2005
== <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The design model included three major phases; the Exploration phase is rooted in essential research steps of problem identification, literature survey and problem definition. Enactment phase is comprised of initial intervention design of a webquest prototype as a more fully detailed intervention and Evaluation phases provides an assessment of the online learning design. These phases an effective navigation to complete decision making. The ILDF model enables the adaptation of a systematic process(organized approach) that initiates a consideration of many viables in an institutional or training situation.For example, the exploration phase catered for the context,content,lecturers, students in the HE,MU.These provided the background information for the enactment phase which illustrated the pedagogical model and the affordances of the webquest as the selected tool. The information in the enactment phase informed the evaluation phase which assessed the worth of the webquest prototype. The model is flexible, interactive and considers adaptable processes in which the social and cultural contexts of learning are emphasize <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">It also provides iterative cycles for designing online learning materials and activities that enhance a social constructivist approach to learning.<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: justify;">This seems to concur with social constructivists who believe that learning occurs in meaningful contexts in which students are engaged in the social construction of knowledge(Vygotsky,1978 cited in Zlatkovska,2010 ). ==

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">References <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Dabbagh, N&Bannan-Ritland,B(2005) Online learning: Concepts, strategies and application. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:Pearson. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Der- Thanq,Hung&Wang(2007) Educational design as a quest for congruence:The need for alternative Learning design tools. British Journal of Educational Technology,38(5),876-884. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Shark, P.&Carliner,S.(2008) The e-learning Hand book,Past Promises & present challenges.Preiffer.An imprint of Wiley 989,market street,San Francisco <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Vygotsky,L.S.,(1978) Mind in society. Cambridge,M.A. Havard University press. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Zlatkovska, E.(2010). Webquests as a constructivist Tool in the EFL Teaching methodology class in University in Macedonia.Correll: Computer Resources for Language Learning 3,14-24.