DISTANCE LEARNING AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN STUDY PROCESS Vilmantė Kumpikaitė-Valiūnienė School of Economics and Business, Lithuania Yaşar University, March 4, 2015, Izmir- Turkey
DISTANCE EDUCATION Distance education activities have a history of more than 200 years. However in nowadays they are inevitably linked with modern learning surroundings. Information technologies and virtual learning environment play the most important role in distance learning.
DISTANCE LEARNING Distance learning is especially useful for adults who need to develop their skills or change their profession (Krivickiene, 1999), because it presents the following possibilities: Allows to work and study at the same time; No need to move from a living place and work; Promotes the choice of the field of studies; Permits to choose learning time, pace and scale; Does not make a learner dependable on the teacher; Present an immediate feedback to the learner.
Advantages Possibility to get engaged into lifelong learning and develop irrespective of time and place. Possibility to learn at a learner s pace and according to his/her abilities and demands. Learning expenses are reduced. Teaching material is easier understood using multiple terrains. More rapid innovations and achievements dissemination. Cooperation among different institutions in managing studies, common projects, research. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DISTANCE LEARNING Disadvantages Studies based on contemporary technologies require considerable investments. Creation of modern means is expenditure consuming. Not all students afford to use a computer and the Internet. There can arise technological incompatibility. Teachers positive approach to distance education, adequate knowledge and qualification is a must. New technologies require computer literacy, foreign languages. Lack of social contacts.
MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSE MOOC is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. These courses can be fully taken online. They are 'open' in the sense that they can be accessed by anyone anywhere as long as you have an internet connection, and that they are free of charge. And they are called 'massive' because generally they go for large target groups. MOOCs are a very recent phenomenon, initiated in the US in the second half of 2011 at a number of top universities and meanwhile expanding rapidly. Some call it a silent revolution in higher education. In any case it is difficult to deny the impact and consequences of the MOOCs that we already observe (www.openuped.eu).
Management from Kaunas University of Technology was given twice with intensive studies for 6 weeks. More than 1000 people from more than 40 different countries applied for this course. However just around 100 were active and just around 30 finished the course successfully and got certificates. These numbers shows popularity and necessity of similar courses.
MATERIAL IN DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE: Printed materials. Sound learning materials. Visual learning materials. Video lecture-classroom/ conference Animation. Animation in computer is described as making visual effects by using graphic and audio devices. E-book.
SURVEY 1 Trying to find out my Management students needs I asked them about means of Moodle they would like to have (Fall of 2014). 5 point scale was used for evaluation and calculated statistical means were used for this analysis also. 32 from 41 students took part in the survey. Age average of respondents was 21 year. 59 percent (19 students) of respondents were boys. 6 students are Indians, 4 - Lebanese, 4 French, 3 Lithuanians, 3- Latvians, 2 - Turks, 2 Russians, 2- Spanish, and per 1 student from Germany, Italy, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Equator.
STUDENTS OPINION ABOUT NECESSITY OF MATERIAL PROVIDED IN MOODLE Self assessment tasks and tests 3.56 Just study material as textbooks, slides, without any video lectures Online video lectures (in real time) 3.69 3.72 Recorded video lectures 3.88
STUDY 2 5 point scale was used for evaluation. Calculated statistical means were used for the analysis of data. The 1 st survey was provided in April May of 2011, the 2 nd one in November December of 2013. 490 underground university students (78.4% females) participated in the 1st poll and 101 (79.6% females) in the 2 nd poll. All students were studying Economics, Management and Finance in Lithuania.
REASONS OF COMPUTER USAGE IN PERCENT Reason of computer usage 2011 2013 E-mail, Skype, etc. for 76.8 74.8 communication Information sourcing 70.9 76.7 Socialization (Facebook, MySpace etc.) For studies For work For entertainment For electronic services (ebanking, shopping etc.) 57.7 52.9 36.6 28.0 18.9 75.7 53.4 24.3 35.9 15.5
SOCIAL MEDIA WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL MEDIA? Social media have been integrated into the daily practices of many users, supported by different websites, tools, and networks. Everyone can add or edit information on social media, supported by digital tools enabling you to create, change, and publish dynamic content.
Do you have Facebook account? Yes No Do you have more than 200 Facebook friends? Yes No Do you have your students as Facebook friends? Yes No
Academic-related Facebook communication categories (Selwyn, 2009): Recounting and reflecting on the university experience Exchange of practical information Exchange of academic information Displays of supplication and/or disengagement Banter (i.e. exchanges of humour and nonsense)
COMPARISON OF SOCIAL NETWORKING IN DAILY LIFE AND STUDY PROCESS 5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 4.4 4.3 4.2 3.6 4.7 4.7 4.3 4.0 4.1 4.0 3.3 3.2 4.1 4.0 2.9 2.8 Social Networking for daily life in Facebook (2011) Social Networking for daily life in Facebook (2013) Social Networking for Study Process in Facebook (2011) Social Networking for Study Process in Facebook (2013)
Will Facebook become regular mean for study process?
ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS SCHOOL 2352 students 51 doctoral students 8 major bachelor degree programs 7 minor bachelor study programs 14 master degree programs 2 doctoral study programmes 6 departments 2 centers of excellence 36 full professors Leadership academy EMBA alumni association Prof. Dr. Vilmantė Kumpikaitė-Valiūnienė
HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATC H?V=KWYP3PUHHKK
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING OPENNESS Content Terrain Learning openness Time Place Rate Accessibility
Virtual Mobility According to the elearningeuropa portal, The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to obtain the same benefits as one would have with physical mobility but without the need to travel. VM takes the student to different university in another country without need of travel.
Consortium 1. Oviedo University (Spain) 2. Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain) 3. University of Southampton (UK) 4. Yasar University (Turkey) 5. Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania) 6. Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania) 7. Universita telematica Pegaso (Italy)
Students: Target groups/benefits Teachers: Widening choice of modules and enriching your curriculum Experiencing the life and culture of a university abroad without having to travel Cost effective for the student: there are no special fees or costs Gaining professional and intercultural skills Gaining skills in up to the minute information/communication technology Timetable flexibility Being able to take part wherever student is Making new friends and contacts. Finding out about other options for virtual study in the future. Working with a greater number of students through e learning environments Producing a more personalized learning with a higher training variety Possibility to gain new professional and intercultural skills Possibility to be more adaptable in European educational system. Possibility to higher the qualification and will become more competitive and attractive teachers for students Finding new contacts Finding out about other options for virtual training in the future.