Information Retrieval in Content Based e-Learning Using the Construction of Ontology

This paper is aimed at analysing case studies of the use of concept maps as tools in the development of eLearning courses or when teaching eLearning courses. Teachers discovered the advantages of concept mapping and learners have come to like it to such an extent that they use it when writing their seminar papers or in their theses. We present papers in which learners develop ICT-supported courses - eLearning courses. The authors of such papers usually follow instructional system design (ISD) principles. Usually, they create a map of all stages of the system design life cycle and go from the low level of distinction to the more detailed levels. Mapping can also be used when explaining the curriculum in an eLearning course. Concept maps can be used in different ways by students because each of them has a different learning style. The authors of theses, which have been selected as examples in this paper, are distant learners who used the paper results in business practice.

We are currently experiencing the rapid growth of technology-based distance learning courses and programs in higher education, K-12 education, training, and other non-traditional learning contexts. With the proliferation of e-Learning courses and programs, it is important that instructional designers, instructional technologists, and others think critically about the nature of their research and practice. A number of questions and issues need to be addressed. For example, many individuals use the terms virtual space, virtual learning, and virtual learning communities when discussing e-Learning design and development. Do we all attach the same meaning to these terms? Probably not. As we design Web-based courses, should we try and use the structure of the traditional classroom as the metaphor for the “online” classroom? This is certainly an open question, given the criticisms that many students and trainees voice concerning traditional classroom instruction and training. Are the relevant instructional design, development, and policy issues the same for higher education, K-12 education, and training in the private sector? What are the implications and effects of using templates and various server software including WebCT, Blackboard, and other programs when designing and developing e-Learning programs? Finally, what can be learned from those individuals who have made pioneering efforts to design and develop online courses? The contributors to this issue of the Quarterly Review of Distance Education directly address many of these questions.Richard Schwier discusses the concept of learning communities in general and virtual learning communities in particular. Schwier describes three aspects of virtual learning communities including the elements, purposes, and the catalysts of virtual learning communities. The catalysts discussed include alignment, engagement, and interaction. In addition, a number of research issues concerning virtual learning communities are presented.The implications of the rapid growth of e-Learning in training, academic education, and non-traditional learning environments for instructional designers are discussed by Wellesley (“Rob”) Foshay, who argues that each context will place different demands on instructional designers. In particular, Foshay discusses the issues and events that are affecting academic organizations, training organizations, and non-traditional educational settings, and the implications for instructional design research and practice in each of the three environments.The implications of using various server-based courseware tools for developing Web-based courses are discussed by Douglas Harvey and Jung Lee. Certainly, courseware tools can help instructional designers and developers be more efficient when developing online courses. But at what cost? Harvey and Lee provide a critical discussion of how effective template-based approaches are for the development of online learning courses. In particular, some of the specific issues discussed include the pedagogical impact of courseware tools, the visual interface, navigation layout, and interaction implications for online courses. Finally, the instructional design implications when using online development tools and server software are discussed.In the final two articles in this issue, the authors identify some lessons learned from the development and delivery of online courses. Barbara Bichelmeyer, Melanie Misanchuk, and Larissa Malopinsky discuss the adaptation of an existing residential course to a Web-based course. Lessons learned from three different literature bases and results of the adaptation, design, and development processes are also analyzed. Tiffany Koszalka and Mary Beth Bianco focus on the importance of instructors in online learning courses. Specific issues and lessons learned by instructors who have “taught” online courses are described and specific areas and questions for research in online learning environments are presented.Critical issues, both for research and development, that instructional designers and instructional technologists will need to think about as they transition their work to e-Learning environments are identified and discussed in this issue of the Quarterly Review of Distance Education. Much potential as well as problems exist for the design of instruction in an e-Learning environment. Critically important is that individuals in the field of instructional design and technology be actively involved in theory development, research, and the design and development of online learning courses and programs.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability and necessity of e-learning courses based on the participants’ viewpoints in an e-learning Summer School. Methods: The research was conducted in 2017 with a descriptive cross-sectional design. The statistical population consisted of 33 students from universities of medical sciences that attended in the first e-learning Summer School and the research was done on all of them. A researcher-made questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was used that consisted of 40 questions including 25 questions in the knowledge section with five fields (concepts and theories, instructional design, virtual class, multimedia principles, and new approaches in e-learning) and 15 questions in the skills section with two fields (e-content development and learning management system). Content validity of the questionnaire was approved based on five expert’s opinions and reliability was 94% based on Cronbach’s alpha. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 16 with one-sample t-test, independent t-test, and ANOVA test. Student’s individual experiences were also evaluated by one open-ended question. Results All topics significantly were applicable and necessary from the participants’ viewpoints in both knowledge and skills sections (P < 0.001). The dimension of e-content development had the highest mean score (4.46). Conclusions: E-learning can provide better and easier learning experiences by eliminating the time and space constraints and being adapted to learner conditions. Short-term e-learning courses can create new ideas for the use of technology in the educational process.

Statement of the problem. The task of predicting student learning success is one of the most developed in educational analytics. At the same time, experience in the field of pedagogical design of e-learning courses, which are the main sources of students’ digital footprint data, is extremely limited. In these conditions, understanding what it should be like and what design elements are most important for it is becoming relevant. The purpose of the study is to determine the design elements of an e-learning course for effective prediction of educational results and to develop its generalized criteria-content model. Methodology . A comparative analysis of scientific, pedagogical, and methodological sources was applied. Verbal and communicative methods, comparative and statistical analysis of empirical data using a generative model of artificial intelligence were used. Results . The paper substantiates the need to develop high-precision e-learning courses for effective forecasting of students’ learning success based on such design elements as: content availability, structuring, discipline study schedule, assessment system, timely feedback, relevance and completeness of information, aesthetics and ergonomics. A generalized criteria-content model for constructing a high-precision e-learning course is proposed. Conclusion . The prospects for further development of the research and development of methodological recommendations for the design of pedagogical design of high-precision e-learning courses are outlined.

Many institutions of higher education, educational organizations, the business community, and learners are embracing e-learning for a variety of reasons and needs. These parties refer to key factors such as flexibility, the use of mixed interactive multimedia, Internet research, archiving, electronic networks, telecommunications, and cost to support the idea that e-learning could serve as a viable and qualitative learning alternative. Some educators and learners, however, believe that e-learning cannot, and should not, replace classroom instruction, pointing out that the quality of face-to-face education must not be compromised by e-learning. Nevertheless, professional and scholastic individuals with such reservations often recognize that e-learning can be a valuable supplement and effective learning tool for mature and responsible students and should be pursued. Hence, quality of learning is a deciding factor as to whether e-learning should be considered as a total and effective learning environment.Recent educational statistics and forecasts have revealed that e-learning is gaining ground in community colleges and universities nationwide. Investigating and assessing the planning and implementation processes of e-learning courses and programs at these institutions of higher education is necessary to determine the quality of a Web-based learning environment. Quality e-learning is a Web-based learning environment designed, developed, and delivered based on several dynamic principles, such as institutional support, course development, teaching/learning, course structure, student support, faculty support, and evaluation and assessment (Phipps & Merisotis, 2000).Ensuring a quality e-learning environment is essential in providing students with the full range of benefits that e-learning entails.Advanced new technology has provided educators with valuable tools to design, develop, and teach quality e-learning courses. Educators could use effective technology-based applications, such as microworlds, virtual realities, and case studies to simulate active and quality e-learning environments that might otherwise be unavailable to the learner. Evolving technology is making it even very possible for learners at a distance to interact fully with fellow learners in course related activities. Participating in high-quality e-learning courses and programs, community college and university learners gain an ability to obtain educational instruction under almost any circumstances. There will be no more excuses about the lack of time or availability of courses or transportation.E-learning is now occupying part of the higher education agenda. Depending on the individual and type of degree, course, and program, e-learning could be described as a “total” education option. To achieve successful e-learning experiences for all student participants, institutions of higher education should ensure that the academic needs of the learner are met and the quality of education is guaranteed.There is a critical need for more research in the area of planning for quality e-learning courses and programs at colleges and universities. Educators must find ways to effectively plan for and offer comprehensive e-learning courses and programs in a variety of subject areas for learners and workers. Community colleges and universities could serve more individuals and businesses, at the location of their choosing, with a wide range of developing e-learning courses, programs, and projects. Technology has given us great opportunity to reach more potential learners and employers than we ever have had before. Institutions of higher education need to harness and manage this energy successfully and ride it into the future.Based on current distance learning research and personal e-learning experience, the author designed an operational definition of establishing a quality e-learning course and program. Figure 1 demonstrates the four main pillars of a solid foundation of building such a course and program: (1) Durable pedagogical strategies to design, develop, and implement effective e-learning courses and programs in which students assume significant responsibility toward their own learning; (2) flexible and convenient access to resources and support services; (3) an organizational base that has a long-term vision and mission in place, managed by proactive leaders who seek collaboration and monetary support to develop and implement quality e-learning courses and programs, driven by market needs, and complying with the laws of ownership and intellectual property rights; and (4) robust technological tools that meet the instructional and learning demands of students and instructors and integrate well with diverse content to obtain the desired learning outcomes. Figure 1 elaborates on and expands the current principles of quality e-learning identified in the e-learning literature.

Domain ontology is proposed as an instrument for controlling of e-learning course results. This approach instead of traditional testing more objectively reflects the structure of studentsâ?? knowledge. Use of ontologies for knowledge representation provides interoperability of the used testing systems. The domain knowledge has been found and reuse in the semantic web world. Domain ontology developing is based on the principles of ontological analysis. The method of itâ??s use for evaluation of the learnersâ?? knowledge results is based on matching of the learnersâ?? ontology with the reference ontology proposed by the trainer/tutor. A multi-agent system for e-learning (M(e)L ) has been defined and a prototype system has been developed. In a case, the domain ontology and the semantic web representation has been applied in two e-learning university courses.

Conformance to social context while designing an e-learning course is crucial in enhancing acceptability of the course. Building socially aware e-learning courses requires elicitation of social opinion from various stakeholders associated with the system. Stakeholders are disparate in their perception towards the intricacies of the system, leading to generation of numerous assorted ideas. Knowledge Management (KM) assimilates these ideas to bring congruency into the system. This paper proposes i) a model KMeLS (Knowledge Management in e-Learning Systems) built upon the SECI (Socialization, Externalization, Combination and Internalization) framework, and ii) an algorithm PARSeL (Prioritizing Alternatives using Recommendations of Stakeholders in e-Learning) to incorporate KM into designing an e-learning course. PARSeL prioritizes the content using stakeholder recommendations using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy modeling. A case study is also presented with a goal of prioritizing a set of programming languages for an online computing course. The proposed methodology can be promising in recommending appropriate content for the e-learners and can be implemented to benefit e-learning organizations in a wider spectrum.

While instructional design is a fast growing, changing and improving field, instructional designer training requires multi-faceted, real life-like, process oriented and contemporary educational understanding. In this case study, the learning outcomes obtained by the junior students who study at Computer Education and Instructional Technology and took a multimedia development course consisting an intense design process were investigated. During a semester, strategy of creating a team, nature of the projects and facilitators were changed for each project in the design course consisting two projects. While the actual participants of the study were 47 students (novice instructional designers), 16 graduates and 10 previous year students were interviewed to triangulate the results. To measure learning outcomes of current students, a survey was implemented as a pre and posttest. Project team and individual interviews were analyzed through content analysis. According to survey results, current students showed a significant improvement in skills on knowledge of instructional technologies, conducting instructional design processes, development of storyboards, using multimedia development programs, assessing instructional materials, using technological resources for instruction effectively, conducting and reporting research, editing audio/video, working collaboratively in teamwork and hardware knowledge. Regarding the entire data gathered from the all participants of the study, apart from survey results, they stated that they got a real life experience and learn how to communicate with target learners. The results imply that students are able to get many skills accepted as instructional designer skills in instructional design field via a multimedia design course. However, during the course, students had some problems such as lack of setting a connection between instructional design phases because of time limitations, challenging to contact with a real target group and having negative influences in processes and end products because of instructor-led random assignment of the first project teams. The results of the study will offer a resources for the future courses in terms of elaborating the outcomes brought by multimedia design process as well as the issues influencing the outcomes.

With the growing awareness to learn deeper about Islam and Quran, there is an increasing trend to learn the Arabic language in Indonesia. While many institutions offer onsite learning platform to learn Arabic, the need for technology-based e-learning Arabic course is increasing as technology in Indonesia advances. The e-learning approach has to be based upon the needs of users to ensure the learning is effective. This study aims to design an online e-learning basic Arabic course using user-centered design (UCD) approach. The methodology employed in this study is mixed methods. The study covers requirements gathering, create design solution, prototyping, and evaluation. Gagne's nine instructional events are used as a theoretical basis for designing Instructional design. Evaluation is done by referring to usability testing method. This study results in an e-learning Arabic course interface that stemmed from user needs and instructional design. The final output has 17 features out of 34 identified user needs.

Usability is an important quality indicator for interactive IT products, such as e-learning courses, and can directly impact learning effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. In this study, we use eye tracking method together with traditional interviewing and observing methods to evaluate and examine the functionality and usability of the homepage of an e-learning course. Through the use of eye tracking in the usability experiment, we learned finer points and developed confidence in our understanding about what drew attention, and why, on the course homepage, and by studying what people looked at and did not look at, we were able to glean more detailed insights about how the web user worked his or her way through usable and unusable designs. The integration usage of eye tracking with interviewing method produced strong corroborative results. It provided us with a richer interpretation than either technique alone. The findings from this report contribute to a broader process of iterative design and continuous development of e-learning courses or e-learning applications functionality to be effective, efficient and satisfying for students.

The advancement in educational technology precipitated by the dissemination of Internet in recent years has a potential to improve the quality of education by encouraging participation and collaboration between instructors and students. Educational institutions use information and communication technology (ICT) as a tool for teaching and learning in a number of ways including but not limited to Internet-based content delivery and visualization. This research involves the development and evaluation of blended learning courses at University of Sam Ratulangi (UNSRAT), Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The current work was aimed to redesign two courses of the existing curriculum based on the ADDIE instructional design model to support student-centered learning and develop e-learning materials. One of the courses was then delivered as two separate classes, the first class was delivered through conventional learning and the second class was delivered by blended learning. These were done to obtain a comprehensive view of students' preferences for learning model. Whereas the other course was entirely delivered by blended learning to acquire an evaluation of students' experience in this learning model. In this paper, the development of the courses based on the instructional design are described. From the questionnaire and examination results, students' achievements both for conventional learning and blended learning are evaluated. The outcome of the research can be seen as a description of students' experience and can offer recommendation on how to design e-learning based courses under the circumstances at UNSRAT.

Like any other educational resource, the integration of OER in teaching and learning requires careful thought and support for the teaching staff. The Faculty of Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka approached this challenge with the help of a professional development course on OER-based e-Learning. Modules in the course incorporated the use of authentic learning scenarios with learning tasks that facilitated capacity building in a collaborative manner. This paper reports the impact of this course in shifting their perspectives and practices in relation to open educational practices. In addition to a much richer grasp of conceptual knowledge and skills related to searching, identifying, evaluating and integrating OER, participants developed competencies in designing, developing and implementation of an OER-based e-Learning course.

&lt;span&gt;The United Nations adopted the sustainable development goal of “quality education” as one of its objectives. In emergency teaching and learning amid the outbreak in 2019, the emphasis has been placed on providing a versatile and easily accessible lifelong learning experience to ensure high-quality education. One type of online e-learning course is the massive open online course (MOOC). It provides a free course that may be taken whenever and anywhere. However, difficulties have come up regarding student performance, course completion, and dropping out as a result of quality assurance of e-learning platforms like MOOC. In order to keep students interested in the course until the end, this study will review and recommend MOOC strategies. The strategies in enhancing for MOOC engagement reveals that they include development, collaboration between educators and students, and evaluation. Self-regulation learning is a crucial motivation in retention from dropping out of the MOOC facilitates participation through the utilization of innovative pedagogies, as well as the interaction between students and educators on both the MOOC platforms and social media platforms according to research. Course information and instructional design are also found to attract learners to complete the course. Giving prizes for completing MOOC assignments and tests is an extra choice in retaining from dropping out the course. The contribution of study is MOOC online learning engagement strategies are introduced. By developing a good course design, collaboration between students and educators and evaluation performance based can enhance students’ engagement to completion of the course.&lt;/span&gt;

Despite the increasing numbers of online courses, there have been several concerns and criticisms related to teaching and learning in e-Learning. Previous research has suggested that students are often dissatisfied and frustrated with their e-Learning courses. A more important issue is that e-Learning has not led to pedagogical changes. A large percentage of e-Learning courses have been developed to deliver simple factual knowledge through tutorial-based instruction. In seeking a paradigm shift from information delivery-centered to learner-centered e-Learning approaches, this chapter suggests that theoretically and empirically grounded design frameworks are required, and that strategies for interactive and collaborative learning should be considered and incorporated in designing learner-centered environments. To identify instructional design strategies, the author critically reviewed and analyzed relevant case studies. Three design guidelines are presented with specific strategies and examples: 1) meaningful opportunities for online collaboration, 2) minimization of communication barriers and maximization of idea sharing, and 3) increasing perceived levels of social presence.

The core idea of patterns and pattern languages is the encapsulation, modeling and delivery of expert's knowledge and best practices to novices in a discipline. The use of such an approach is critical for modeling Instructional Design (ID) as it forms the basis for design of TEL systems (for e.g., eLearning Systems). While there is extensive work on patterns for ID from Pedagogy Patterns Project, E-LEN and so on, the focus has been on patterns at lower level of granularity rather than an approach that integrates patterns from ID and TEL perspectives. In addition, most of the researchers have focused either on domain patterns (ID) or TEL patterns, and not both. In this context, this paper presents a patterns-based approach to design of TEL systems based on ID. The crux of this approach is to model a solution in ID using patterns and integrate it with a solution in TEL. To this end, we present an approach that integrates Pattern-Oriented Instructional Design (POID) and Software Architecture for TEL Systems based on fundamental principles in software engineering (SE). We then illustrate our approach and ID patterns through adult literacy case study.