The Usage of Collaborative ICT Tools in Higher ...

The Usage of Collaborative ICT Tools in Higher Education: Preliminary Study and Anticipated Results Aleksandar Sokolovski,IEEE member Master Student on Module: Techmology, Innovation and Entreprenuership Dept of Computer Science, University of Sheffiled,UK; Teaching Research assistant, Faculty of Informatics, Department for Computer Science, European University, Skopje Macedonia [email protected]; Abstract: The works attempts to investigate the possible benefits of the use of blogs, wiki’s and forums in the higher education system. The primary objective is to verify that the blogs, wiki’s and forums are a knowledge transfer channel and also whether they provide the right conditions for the knowledge transfer itself. The main aim is to determine which of these three tools methods used for e-learning are suitable and for which type of knowledge sharing / transfer / collaboration. This will be achieved with the analysis of data collected from questionnaires distributed to students with relevant experience. The primary data from this research will be compared to previously done similar researches in order to identify possible trends. Абстракт (Abstract in Macedonian Language): Овој труд пробува да ги истражи можните бенефити од користење на блогови, вики-ја и форуми во високото образование. Примарната цел е да се види дали блоговите, вики-јате и форумите се канал за трансфер на знаење и дали поставуваат правилни услови за преносот на знаењето и го овозможуваат истото. Проектот е насочен да открие кој од овие три технологии за е-учење одговараат за специфична форма на пренос на знаење, колаборација, супервизија, работење во група итн. Исктражувањето ќе се изведе со помош на прашалник,и резултатите од истиот ќе бидат споредени со предходно направени слични истражувања со цел да се идентификува можен тренд. Keywords: education, web technology, knowledge transfer, blog, forum, wiki’s

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Introduction

Education can be defined as a knowledge learning process, or knowledge exchange, knowledge that the lecturers shape with their students. It is one of the most important processes in people lives; its importance was realized many years ago by the

scholars in Rome and Greece, but not many things could have been done, to improve the student’s experience. Many methods were tried in the last two centuries in order to have more effective classes, from interactive teachings, more practical assignments, and even classes held out of the classroom. Dunn and Dunn [2] were focused on identifying relevant stimuli that will influence learning and manipulating the school environment, nearly the same time as Joseph Renzulli recommended varying teaching strategies [2]. “Howard Gardner identified individual talents in his Multiple Intelligences theories. All of these new methods and theories had some results, but the one thing that changed the education system drastically was the introduction of technology, it is an increasingly influential factor in education” [2]. Computers are being widely used both to complement established education practices and develop new ways of learning. There is one more influential technology that is part of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the one thing that connects the world in a global village - that is the Internet. It is according to IEEE and many other scientific and professional bodies, the technology that single handedly change the exchange of information. Using the Internet or the Web, any information can be sent in a second anywhere in the world. This instant information exchange also changed the playground in education and the Universities from any country can have access to information in few seconds or minutes, that would without the existence of the Internet take days or even week.

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Many technologies that are part of the Internet like, Forum, Distance learning systems (DLS) in recent years are more and more popular teaching aids. Forums are very practical for students due to the fact that they are topic oriented, and DLS are very popular in the northern countries of Europe, because it allows student to be present even if the physically cannot get to the class room. 1.1.

The project’s primary objective is to investigate if the blogs, wiki’s and forums are a knowledge transfer channel and also whether they provide the right conditions for the knowledge transfer itself. And the final research question that this research will give answer to is ”which of the three elearning methods of learning (blogs, forums, wiki’s) are more suitable for which type of knowledge sharing / transfer / collaboration?”

Contents and organization of this paper

This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 Literature review, a general literature review will be done, and the sources connected to the research aims and objectives will be presented. This Literature review will help to identify possible gaps in the previous research done in the specified field. In Chapter 3, we identify the appropriate research methodology which will test the presented research question. 2. 2.1.

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Aims and research question

As part of a postgraduate programme in Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the author has undertaken research project work to complete his dissertation. The aim of the research project work is to investigate the usability and utility of the blogs, forums and wiki’s for students and lecturers and demonstrate that effectiveness in collaboration increases while at the same time the learning process is facilitated.

1.2.



Literature review Defining important and relevant terms and names

It is useful, before we proceed, to set the context, explain and give definitions of the terms used later on  Distance Learning System – DLS is a system, that allows two people or two group of people from different locations to talk to each other in real time, the usually transmits video and audio between the two geographically distant locations.  Forums – Web page where registered users can read and write comments about

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2.2.

certain topic, they are usually with hard to use GUI. Wiki’s – web pages that give detailed explanations of a certain term or word, anyone can write and the name of the author of the text is not presented in every Wiki. Blogs – are called digital diaries, where anyone can expresses his/her opinion on a topic write a personal daily note, or inform of a certain important event. Blog are very easy to use and manage and they are public, anyone can view blogs without registration to a certain city. Every blog is usually written by a single person and the information is almost always presented in chronological order. Usability

Usability is defined as how easy something is to use, and how much it help finding what you need as well. Both software and Web sites can be tested for usability. This test can be done for applications and for Web sites, and because Blogs are part of a Web page where they are posted, and are managed by the user interface of application or the Web page, so one can say that the rules for usability that apply for applications and for Web sites, can apply for blogs as well. The main notion of usability is that an object designed with the users’ psychology and physiology in mind is, for example:   

More efficient to use - it takes less time to accomplish a particular task Easier to learn - operation can be learned by observing the object More satisfying to use

According to [27], ISO standard for usability also exists, also issued by the International Organization for Standardization, which defines usability as “The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.” According to [16-18, 26], the usability consultant Jakob Nielsen has written about a framework of system acceptability, where usability is a part of "usefulness" and is composed of:   

Learnability (intuitive navigation, easy to learn) Efficiency of use (the GUI is easily use for number of actions) Memorability (are the actions memorable)

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 

2.3.

Few and noncatastrophic errors (the user is not blamed for an error) Subjective satisfaction (overall opinion of the user for the GUI, and enjoyable to use) Forms of knowledge transfer

According to [21-22] there are many forms and types of knowledge transfer like:  One-to-many knowledge transfer - when a lecturer presents a particular subject in front of group of students  One-to-one knowledge transfer (consultations) – when a lecturer explains a specific issue that is of particular interest to the student  Peer-to-peer knowledge transfer – when students work together on a group project or together prepare an exam  Supervision knowledge transfer – when lecturer (mentor) is supervising individual course work, dissertation and etc In this paper the main research question is to establish which of the many methods of learning best correspond to which specific type of knowledge sharing / transfer / collaboration. This aim will be achieved by conducting surveys and the results from these questioners will be compared to previously done researches in order to detect possible future trends. 2.4.

Technology in education

Additionally according to the Dearing Report (UK), they Conclusion for the Higher education sector was, that they need to: “take full advantage of the advances in communications and information technology which will radically alter the shape and delivery of learning throughout the world “[2]. According to the same report the education should be shaped towards:  Virtual University/School  Resource based learning  e-learning According to [1] in the part social shaping of the technology ,it is said that the technology should not be treated as a “black box”, the technology should be familiar to the general public, because the things that people understand they are using it more often and the things that are in some way confusing or unknown. According to [3] and [4] the technology should be widely used in education because it opens new ways of communication and faster access to information everywhere in the world. It is

important to mention that in [2] all the possible implications and the impact that the usage of technology has on the Higher education system, according to the analyses the usage of technology is supported and suggested to be where it is not used, journals and magazines that support the same school of thought are [10] and [11]. 2.5.

Blogs, Forums and Wiki’s

Let’s see some of the arguments that support blogs, and there usage in education. In [8] it is said that: “To use the internet as an educational tool, its content must be audited for reliability”, this can be most easily done with usage of blogs, rather than with usage of forums or Distance Learning Systems. According to [9] were the paper about wiki’s is it is clearly stated that students do not use wiki’s any more, due to very bad experience with the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. According to [5] student use the blogs, more intensively then the wiki’s and pod casts, due to the fact that blogs are the closest thing to a social network, and many students are using social network for entertainment like Facebook, MySpace, [REFs] so as a conclusion from this is that students use blogs more due to the fact that it comes more natural to them and “in line” with their everyday Internet social activities. In [6] the blogs are described as the best learning aid for foreign languages, but usage in other fields in suggested and supported. Another book that supports this claim is [7] where the usage of blogs in thought to be a good business idea, or a marketing tool for developing businesses but also a good possible usage of blogs is said to be in education, also according to [7] “Blogging is rapidly developing into a mainstream activity for Internet users, but beyond the popular headlines, there has been very little serious research done on their actual application in specific, everyday contexts”. This in fact means that one of the reasons why I choose blogs for research is the lack of existing research for blogs, where as the research for wiki’s, forum, DLS or more specifically video conferencing, is not lacking at all. In [11] and [12] the usage of Blogs in this emerging Internet culture is analyzed and the conclusion is that the Blogs play important role in our everyday lives, and the blogs users increases rapidly everyday, this rules is for general usage blogs, but in the last few years applies also to the education blogs as well. In [13] the authors”... examines the emerging phenomenon of blogging, using three different

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Polish blogging services as the base of the research. Authors show that blog networks are sharing their characteristics with complex networks (γ coefficients, small worlds, cliques, etc.). Elements of sociometric analysis were used to prove existence of some social structures in the blog network.” The result of there research papers supports my claim that blogs can be used in education due to the fact that social structure exists in the blogs, and as mentioned previously the students are more likely to use a social web application Also [14] the phenomena of mobile blogging are examined and it is said that students are even more likely to use blogs if they can type it on there mobile phones. One very important fact is the very easy to use, user friendly interface of the blogs, according to [16] – [19]. According to [23] the usage of the blogs in higher education has increased and the blogs are more and more popular as educational tools, nowadays. The blogs are knowledge transfer enabler and a good channel for communication not just between the students and the lectures, but also between the students themselves, according to [24] the students learn from the lecturers and from textbook, but also the students learn much from each other. Blogs can in many cases serve as a digital portfolio of the student’s coursework’s and assignments, where not just the lecturer, but the students between them can comment on their coursework and assignments and also learn for one another. During this process, the students unwillingly and unknowingly train their writing and debating skills in an academic environment, according to [25]. According to [23], the authors said that blogs are very interesting collaboration and educational tolls because, unlike the many other systems where the students upload materials and the lecturers manages that web application, the story with the Blogs in completely different. Every student has his own personal blog so the power to manage the content is “in his hands”, or in another words the students have the “sense of control” over their work, according to [23] “The learners’ control among other educational strategies can play a role in the instructional design of e- Learning and promote knowledge construction through authentic interactions”. According to [23] in traditional learning the student’s main source of consultation is their lecturer / instructor and their own coursework’s and assignments, whereas blogs have the social learning concept in the background, and the students can use their peers knowledge as a

consultation tool as well. In [23] it is said that: “not only do the students demonstrate end results from learning activities but also reveal the process of reflection through collaborative dialogues as evidenced in blog comments they exchange back and forth in genuine social learning.” According to [23] few of the big advantage or attributes of the blogs are the following:  Social Learning  “unique voice”, which can be a motivator for many students who like to proof their skills.  User-oriented (mayor contributor for popularity in today’s Web 2.0 World.) One can say that all of this previously mentioned attributes plays big roll into the growing popularity of the Blogs in education nowadays. On the [29] many of this issues are addressed The Blog’s are probably a very important web based technology but it is also very important to mention the other forms of knowledge transfer channels, which according to [28] are:  transfer files to each other (or third parties)  using the file-transfer applet,  email the lecturer with a problem or use group  email to email all their classmates,  receive help from other students through the  chat room,  browse the discussion forums or start a new  one,  let the lecturer login to their machine and  poke around, and  communicate using the Webcam. Two other web based technologies have a great impact on the higher education system like forums and wiki’s. According to [30] Wiki’s are very useful for group of students or group of lecturers, or research colleagues who are working on group research or practical project together. The wiki’s are seen as an extremely helpful Web tool to bounce and brainstorm ideas between themselves. According to [31] Forums are useful tool, when discussing or debating on a variety of topics, asking questions where someone would like the whole group to read the question or the answers, in order to avoid answering the FAQ (Frequently asked questions). 3. Attributes of Knowledge Sharing Tools

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According to the literature review, the blog, forums and Wiki’s might just be the best knowledge sharing tools for the student to use due to the fact that they are one of the easiest web tools to use, with very user-friendly Graphical User Interface. Few of the fact that support this claim are:  blogs can be read at any time unlike DLS systems were there is time limitations; 

blogs are personal and have very appealing user interface, unlike the forums, which are not by default personal and in most cases are topic oriented and the information is presented in a very difficult and in most cases confusing user interface;



blogs are most similar to personal diaries (there are also public and do not require subscription to access them, unlike many other web technologies that do) and in our human nature is to be curies in other people lives, so that is way one can say and Faculty of Dentistry. The university has around 2,000 students including the dependants in Skopje and Ohrid. The methodology will be to use questionnaires and the student body that will actually take part of the survey is around 200-300 students, this number of students is a representative number of students in Skopje. Later on for analysis SPSS software will be used for statistical analysis and if the analysis of the questioners using this software does not give high percentage of currency I may do interviews as well which will be a mixed method (according to [20]). Also very important factor while analyzing and comparing these three technologies is that not all of them will answer 100% thoughtfully as a result of disinterest or lack of knowledge. 5. Expected outcomes This project is middle way. So far:  Literature is exhausted in order to investigate what are the current trends in collaborative tools.  Attributes of ICT collaborative tools have been identified.  A research methodology was agreed.  A questionnaire was developed and distributed to students.  We are currently collecting data and we are going to analyze data within the next few months.

that blogs most likely the future of information exchange. 

Wiki’s are good for exchanging ideas between peers while working on a group goals and objectives.



Forums are very useful for asking questions and avoiding FAQ (Frequently asked questions). and spending the time on more important issues.

All of these facts are to be tested and checked for validity in this dissertation. 4. Methodology In the conducted survey will participate the students from the European University in Skopje, with 7 different faculties, Faculty of informatics, Faculty for Economics, Faculty of Art and Design, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Political Science, Faculty of Detectives and Criminology The expected time of completion of the project is October 2009. According to my preparation research and the literature review that I have done so far the expected outcomes are that these three elearning technologies (forums, wiki’s and blogs) are the best and mostly used supporting tools for knowledge transfer. It is very important to mention that the derived results can only identify trends within the student population, and the results cannot be applied as a general rule to the whole student population in Skopje, or in the whole Country or abroad. 6. Conclusion The blogs are the e-dairy of the 21-th century, they are a good tool in this new social networking oriented society. The blogs can also be a good information tool, while exchanging ideas between a supervisor and a student during an individual course work is a work in progress. The forums are a useful tool for students when they are preparing themselves for an exam and they need more information about certain issues, they use the forums to ask their colleges when they have doubts about something concerning the exam. Wiki’s are helpful when students are working on a group assignment to exchange and brainstorm ideas between each other. This research main objective is to demonstrate that these three previously mentioned cutting edge web technologies are not only the easiest and fastest way of information sharing but they can also be very helpful in shaping the minds of the new generation of students who are egger to gain knowledge in this world that is becoming a global village.

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Acknowledgement I am heartily thankful to my supervisor and mentor, whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject. Lastly, I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect during the completion of the project. Like my family and my colleagues for the support and all the help.

References [1] Nick Heap, Ray Thomas, Geoff Einon, Robin Mason, Information Technology and Society: A Reader, Sage Publishing Company, 1995 [2] James J. Duderstadt, Daniel Ewell Atkins, Douglas E. Van Houweling, Higher education in the digital age, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002 [3] Mark Gura, Bernard Percy, Recapturing Technology for Education ee in omorrow in oda s lassrooms, Rowman & Littlefield, 2005 [4] Hugh Mackay, Michael F. D. Young, John Beynon, Understanding Technology in Education, Routledge, 1991 [5] Will Richardson, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Corwin Press, 2008 [6] Mario Camilleri, Peter Ford, Blogs: web journals in language education, Council of Europe, 2007 [7] Axel Bruns, Joanne Jacobs, Uses of Blogs, Published by Peter Lang, 2006 [8] Mindfi elds A. C. Grayling, Lessons from the world’s wild web, New Scientist january 17 2009, p. 78 [9] Sebastian Schaffert, François Bry, Joachim Baumeister, Malte Kiesel, Semantic Wikis, IEEE Software Magazine vol.25 no.4 aug 2008, p. 10 [10] Marc J. De Vries, Technology Education: Be ond the “ echnolo is, Guest Article, Applied Science” Paradigm. Journal of Technology Education Vol. 8 No. 1, Fall 1996 [11] Robert C. Wicklein, Curriculum Focus for Technology Education, Journal of Technology Education 1997 [12] Lauretta Jones, Thomas Erickson, Wendy A. Kellogg, Rachel Bellamy, John C. Thomas, The Role of Internal Blogs, BlogCentral 2007 [13] Gilad Mishne, Gilad Avraham Mishne, Maarten Rijke, Ricardo Baeza-yates, Simon Jones, Applied Text Analytics for Blogs, University of Amsterdam 2007 [14] Wiktor Bachnik, Stanislaw Szymczyk, Piotr Leszczynski, Rafal Podsiadlo, Ewa Rymszewicz, Lukasz Kurylo, Danuta Makowiec, Beata

Bykowska, Quantitive and sociological analysis of blog networks, Physica Polonica B 2005 [15] Eric Paulos, Mobile play: Blogging, tagging, and messaging, Ubicomp 2003 [16] usable information technology, http://www.useit.com, visited: February 2009. [17] UsabilityBlog, http://www.usabilityblog.com/, visited: February 2009. [18] Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html, visited: February 2009. [19] Stories on usability http://www.cnet.co.uk/tags/usability.htm, visited: February 2009. [20] Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis, Adrian Thornhill, Research methods for business students, Pearson Education, Fourth edition 2008 [21] Clinton Bennett, Lorraine Foreman-Peck, Chris Higgins, Researching into teaching methods in colleges and universities, Routledge 1996 [22] Lillian N. Cassel, Ricardo Augusto da Luz Reis, Informatics curricula and teaching methods, Springer 2003 [23] Yao-Jen Chang, Yao-Sheng Chang, Chu-Hui Chen, Assessing Peer Support and Usability of Blogging Technology, Third 2008 International Conference on Convergence and Hybrid Information Technology, 2008 [24] Williams, J and Jacobs, J . Exploring the use of blogsas learning spaces in the highereducation sector, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 20(2),2004, pp. 232-247. [25] Downes, S. Educational blogging. Educause Review, 14−26. 2004, September/October [26] Sisira Adikari and Craig McDonald, User and Usability Modeling for UCI/UMI: A Research Design, Information and Automation, 2006. ICIA 2006. International Conference on Volume , Issue , 15-17 Dec. 2006 Page(s):151 – 154 [27] Laila Cheikhi, Alain Abran and Witold Suryn, Harmonization of usability measurements in IS09126 software engineering standards, IEEE ISIE 2006, July 9-12, 2006, Montreal, Quebec, Canada [28] Kevin Curran, A Web-Based Collaboration Teaching Environment, IEEE MultiMedia Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages: 72 – 76, July 2002 [29] Joseph L.A. Hughes, William E. Sayle, Open Forum: Issues in Engineering, Technology, and Computing Education, 34th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 2004 [30] Christoph von Hinten Andreas Hens, A Wiki for Collaboration and Publication in Research, Fourth IEEE International Conference on eScience, 2008 [31] Patrick O'Keefe, Managing Online Forums, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 2008

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First Author (M’84) Aleksandar Sokolovski is born on 03.08.1984 in Skopje, Macedonia. He finished High School in DSU ”Rade Jovcecski Korcagin”, and has a University Degree in Computer Science from the University Ss. Cyril and Melodious Faculty from the Faculty for electrical engineering and Information technologies, currently a student at the University of Sheffield, Master’s course in Technology Innovation and Entreprenuership, this paper s is part of his master’s dissertation thesis. He becomes a Member of IEEE

since 2008. He is currently attending the Microsoft Academy for Courses for Operating systems: Windows Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006, Windows 2008 Active Directory and Exchange 2007, and Cisco Network Academy for CCNA/CCNP degree. He is currently a teaching research assistant at the Faculty of Informatics, Department for Computer Science, at the European University in Skopje, Macedonia

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