Determining the Perceptions of Teacher Candidates ...

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

ScienceDirect Procedia Computer Science 102 (2016) 654 – 658

12th International Conference on Application of Fuzzy Systems and Soft Computing, ICAFS 2016, 29-30 August 2016, Vienna, Austria

Determining the perceptions of teacher candidates on the effectiveness of MOODLE used in flipped education Semih Caliskana*, Hüseyin Bicena a,*

Distance Learning Center, Near East University,P.O.BOX:99138, Nicosia, North Cyprus, Mersin 10, Turkey

Abstract This study was carried out to determine the efficiency of implementing Moodle in Remote Flipped learning environments by identifying the perceptions of teacher candidates. The survey consisted of 120 volunteer teachers from Near East University who have received education through remote learning. The survey was carried out in the fall term of 2015-2016. The 5 type Likert scale results developed by the researchers were analyzed using the SPSS program. The results of the analysis were given using percentage, frequency and descriptive analysis methods. When examined the research findings show that the teacher candidates receive a high amount of Moodle in their remote flipped learning, they do not loose connection or face slow stream when watching educational videos, they have access to information when and where they want with remote learning, and lastly they stated that the remote learning system is very useful and effective. © 2016 2016The TheAuthors. Authors.Published Published Elsevier © by by Elsevier B.V.B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICAFS 2016. Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICAFS 2016 Keywords: Distance Learning, Moodle, Flipped Learning

1. Introduction Distance education concept has become the most frequently used and preferred teaching method from past to present. The need for technology which provides many benefits for students in their education life has increased because of increased need for education, time limit and geographical limitations6. In this process, the importance of student and computer interaction becomes more salient2. Visual-auditory hardware and materials are required in classroom environment which are used in formal education. These materials generally include wooden blackboard, smart projection, computer and audio system. Professional educators prefer electronic environment in order to *

Semih Caliskan.: +90-392-392-223-6464/378; fax: +0-000-000-0000 . E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-0509 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICAFS 2016 doi:10.1016/j.procs.2016.09.457

Semih Caliskan and Hüseyin Bicen / Procedia Computer Science 102 (2016) 654 – 658

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provide education in the best way. These are software applications which include every material that you will need in electronic environments 3. Flipped Education is the course of action including class or societies found in distance education system. Many applications have been developed for flipped education. There are some additions used in content management system for students to learn more effectively in virtual environments4. Distance education which includes many teaching methods when compared to traditional classroom teaching teach lesson through virtual classes including voice as well. It involves alternatives such as gaining content, providing positive feedback, beneficial videos, online courses and text reading based on this online method12. It is necessary to learn the concept of educational technology in order to use information technologies in education environment effectively. People aim at using similar technology materials in terms of learning with education application1. Recently, concept of educational technology has improved over time5. Education model personalized with technology has become a teaching model which can be changed at any time including in-class and out-of-class activities in order to increase the interaction between students and education13. Materials used with integrating many free applications into Moodle are unique additions for teachers who want to give private lesson, use alive virtual environment and benefit7.Teaching through using technology and visual design develop students’ learning process skills by providing them different opportunities 10. Managing time and preparing teaching materials for students in the system in Moodle are really crucial. Activities need to be organized through giving extra time in a more useful and understandable way in Moodle 8. In this research, Moodle was used to give computer course to students. Distance education needs to be used prevalently and accordingly, the level of electronic environments used by teacher candidates should be determined. Students’ Moodle Training : The course prepared in Moodle environment includes “Computer II” course for teacher candidates. The course involves 6-weeks course materials and videos for Excel Application Program and Powerpoint Application Program in the system. Adding Course to Moodle Environment : Lessons were formed weekly using Moodle and added to http://uzem.neu.edu.tr/ environment. When students use this environment, they can see the titles prepared weekly based on the subject of the week. There is a property providing the opportunity of adding more than one course under the same title. Lecture notes prepared for teacher candidates were added under the videos when forming the lecture content. Properties including font, paragraph, bold, italic, underline, alignment, adding numbers, bullet, link and line were used when preparing the lecture notes for teacher candidates. “Open editing” button must be selected as manager in order to upload material to lectures. When teacher candidates click on this button, add new activity or source part will be openned under every week or subject. Advantages of Flipped Education: One of the most important advantages of Moodle and Flipped education environment is providing access to lecture documents, homework, discussion and exams from the internet, keeping them in an environment and using them in the next years11. Moodle is a content management system which persistently renovates and updates itself and it is generally adopted worldwide. Preferring learning through distance education and ability of teacher candidates to participate in distance education process made distance education as the most important alternative. 2. 2. Aim of the Study General aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of undergraduate teacher candidates on course application prepared in distance education Moodle environment. In order to achieve this aim, an interview form including 16 items was developed by the researchers. 2.1. Participants 120 voluntary teacher candidates who are registered to Computer II course studying in the department of Teaching the Mentally Retarded at Near East University participated in this research. The research was conducted in the Fall Semester of 2015-2016 academic year.

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2.1.1. Gender Distribution of participants based on gender is provided in Table 1. Table 1 Distribution of Participants’ Gender Gender

f

%

Male

72

59.5

Female

48

40.5

Total

120

100.0

As it can be seen from Table 1, 59.5% (72 teacher candidates) of the teacher candidates participated in this research were male and 40.5% (48 teacher candidates) of them were female. 2.1.2. Age Distribution of participants based on age is shown in Table 2. Table 2 Distribution of Participants’ Age Age 18-20 21-24 25-26 Total

ƒ 100 18 2 120

% 83.3 14.9 1.6 100,0

Distribution of age among the teacher candidates who participated in this research is shown in Table 2. According to this distribution, 100 teacher candidates were between the ages of 18-20 (83.3%), 18 teacher candidates were between the ages of 21-24 (14.9%) and 2 teacher candidates were between the ages of 25-26 (1.6%). 2.2. Instruments An interview form was used as the data collection tool which was developed by the researchers. The form is a 5point Likert type scale and included 16 positive statements. The form was prepared based on expert views. 2.3. Data Analysis Data were analyzed with SPSS IBM 23.0 program. The results were presented with percentage, frequency and descriptive analyis methods. 3. Results & Discussion In this section, results and interpretations related with determining the perceptions of teacher candidates towards the effectiveness of Moodle used in distance education and sub-aims are provided. 3.1 Perceptions of Teacher candidates Towards the Effectiveness of Moodle Descriptive statistics on the perceptions of teacher candidates towards the effectiveness of Moodle are provided in Table 3.

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Semih Caliskan and Hüseyin Bicen / Procedia Computer Science 102 (2016) 654 – 658 Table 3. Determining the perceptions of teacher candidates towards the effectiveness of moodle

N o 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Perceptions of Teacher candidates Towards the Effectiveness of Moodle Courses given with Moodle enable more persistent learning compared to traditional classroom environment. Courses given with Moodle increase the interest in the lecture. Courses given with Moodle increase success. It is more interesting to form activities in courses given with Moodle. Collaborative learning becomes more effective in courses given with Moodle. Courses given with Moodle increase the efficiency of students and courses. Courses given with Moodle enables students to express themselves during the lectures in a more comfortable way. Using Moodle in courses increases motivation. Moodle enables active learning. Presentations shared during the activities organized with Moodle presents different perspectives. Questions shared during the activities organized with Moodle enable better learning. Moodle provides richer content to students. Using video in Moodle attracts more attention. Online chat used in Moodle is very effective. Courses given with Moodle and in-class activities make student ready. Courses given with Moodle increase rapid thinking skills.

Pre-Test

Post-Test

X

X

SS

3.29

1.32

4.34

.65

3.48 3.48 3.48

1.18 1.12 1.12

4.41 4.41 4.34

.63 .63 .69

3.63

1.15

4.39

.66

3.60

1.22

4.34

.61

3.48

1.14

4.36

.73

3.85 3.70 3.58

1.13 0.95 1.24

4.34 4.41 4.29

.65 .63 .74

3.68

1.33

4.36

.62

3.70 3.87 3.85 3.75

1.20 .95 1.08 1.06

4.46 4.60 4.43 4.48

.63 .58 .63 .55

3.73

1.20

4.48

.63

SS

As it can be seen from Table 3, perception level pre-test results of teacher candidates related with “Moodle effectiveness” factor fall within “undecided” (3.29-3.87) borders. Besides, it is seen that post-test results fall within “totally agree” (4.34-4.60) borders. According to pre-test results, the statement in which the teacher candidates mostly responded as undecided was “Courses given with Moodle enable more persistent learning compared to traditional classroom environment” with a mean value of X =3.29. Based on this result, it can be said that teacher candidates in the control group think that courses in virtual environments are slightly effective. Post-test results showed that the statement in which the teacher candidates mostly responded as totally agree is “Using video in Moodle attracts more attention” with a mean value of X =4.60. According to this result, it can be said that teacher candidates prefer lectures given with video. Furthermore, Love, Hodge, Grandgenett & Swift9 conducted a study in order to emphasize that flipped education is a facilitative model based on recent developments in innovative instructional technologies and traditional instruction takes long time. In this context, they compared the effectiveness of these two instructional methods. The research was conducted with two different groups. The first group used traditional instruction method and course was given with flipped education to the second group. Feedbacks were received from the teacher candidates through a questionnaire after training and it was concluded that achievement level of teacher candidates taught with flipped education was higher compared to the other group. 4. Conclusion and Implications for Future Studies According to the results of the study, teacher candidates revealed that they know how to access lecture sources in Flipped Education, Moodle enables more persistent learning compared to traditional class environment and using video in Moodle attracts more attention. In addition, teacher candidates reported that effectiveness is high in Moodle environment, they do not experience any problem while watching lecture videos, they have access to knowledge at

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any time anywhere through distance education and lastly distance education sysem is really beneficial and effective. On the other hand, it is recommended that future research might conduct application studies related with system structure of distance education and material use with students. References 1. Berber A, Laborda JG. Turkish teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards computer assisted testing in comparison with Spanish teachers’ and students’ perceptions. World Journal on Educational Technology 2015; 7(2): 99-106. 2. Calp MH, Akcayol MA. The importance of human-computer interaction in the development process of software projects. Global Journal of Information Technology 2015; 5(1): 48-54. 3. Dwyer D, Barbieri K, Doerr HM. Creating a virtual classroom for interactive education on the web. Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 2005; 27(6): 897-904. 4. Erkan E, Altun H. Java and Web-based distance education: virtual class and virtual laboratory project for e-education. Electrical Electronics Computer Engineering Education; 2003: 1. 5. Gulcu A, Solak M, Aydin S, Kocak O. Opinions of Branch Teachers Working in Primary Education Towards Technology Use in Education. International Periodical For The Languages, Literature And History Of Turkish Or Turkic 2013; 8(6): 195-213. 6. Ilgaz H. Contribution of Technology Acceptance and Sense of Community in Distance Education to Learner Satisfaction. Unpublished master's thesis. Hacettepe University. Institute of Science. Ankara; 2008. 7. Moodle Moodle. Retrieved June 18, 2015 from http://moodle.org/home/. 8. Mok HN. Teaching tip: The flipped classroom. Journal of Information Systems Education 2014; 25(1): 7. 9. Love B, Hodge A, Grandgenett N, Swift AW. Student learning and perceptions in a flipped linear algebra course. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 2014; 45(3): 317-324. 10. Tugun V, Ozdamli F. Designation of teacher candidates’ self-efficacy and success level in designing multimedia. World Journal on Educational Technology 2015; 7(2): 136-141. 11. Tosun C, Taúkesenligil Y. Using the Moodle learning management system in problem based learning method. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences 2011; 3(3): 1021-1045. 12. Simpson V, Elizabeth R. Flipping the classroom to teach population health: Increasing the relevance. Nurse Education in Practice 2015; 15(3): 162-167. 13. Uzunboylu H, Karagozlu D. Flipped classroom: A review of recent literature. World Journal on Educational Technology 2015; 7(2): 142147.