Informatics in Education

In this paper we aim to describe the process by which our personalised web-based collaborative teaching/learning methodology (CECIP - Collaboration - Evaluation - Critical thinking - Individual assessment - learner Profile) evolved originating from Vygotsky's theory and based on the (C) collaborative construction of student's knowledge, (E) developing evaluation and assessment skills, (C) developing critical thinking skills, (I) integrating individual evaluation and (P) generating learner profile. Our CECIP methodology integrates individual learning style dimensions and their preferences into e-learning environment by filling out MBTI, Gardner, GEFT and Felder-Silverman questionnaires during our four-semester-research. The paper covers the theoretical foundations of Learning Styles giving analogies to preferred learning strategies. A three-part-research process is described through which the described CECIP model emerged: (1) analysing Learning Styles and Learning Management Systems that claim to support their work; (2) raising the background knowledge of students in cognitive psychology in order to improve design and evaluation methodologies of multimedia learning materials; (3) personalising tasks and assessment based on Bloom's Taxonomy.

Teaching web development in Computer Science undergraduate courses is a difficult task. Often, there is a gap between the students' experiences and the reality in the industry. As a consequence, the students are not always well-prepared once they get the degree. This gap is due to several reasons, such as the complexity of the assignments, the working environment, the frameworks used and the time-frame constraints. In this paper, we report on a case study on how we taught web application development using extreme tutoring and in an apprenticeship manner. The assumption was to take two real web applications as basis for practical teaching. We present the different issues that we faced: the setup of the development framework, the heterogeneity of human resources and the volatility of the environment. We describe how the process evolved positively. The students became independent, and implemented two applications. We conclude with the lessons learned.

Wikis have been recently promoted as tools that foster collaborative learning. However, there has been little research devoted to the criteria that are suitable to address issues pertinent to collaborative learning. This paper proposes a set of criteria to explore technical and pedagogical usability issues of collaborative learning with wikis. The criteria are then used to evaluate students' collaborative writing activities. The units of study are wikis that groups of students developed collaboratively using MediaWiki. This paper also reports on technical and pedagogical implications for the use of wikis as collaborative learning tools in teacher education.

The paper surveys the risks and benefits which the user faces in the networked environment and how those challenges can be overcome. The question is how to measure the potential or benefits of such a complex phenomenon - the collaborative cross-domains in social media. As one of the solutions we propose to consider this in the context of digital tools and the entities involved into cooperation-collaboration: core researches, engineers, developing information systems and tools, marketing technologists, users-consumers of services and products. The ways of collecting data and the measures for protecting privacy issues of the data collected online, as they were applied during the last two decades are overviewed in this paper. There is no universal law protecting the privacy of online users in the global world and hardly will it ever be. For a while, only the awareness of the users, the professional Codes of Ethics and fairness of firms involved into collaboration could help them avoid pitfalls hidden in social media. The summary table shows at a glance benefits and dangers met in social by its explorers and users.

In this article we report about a study to assess Dutch teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge (\small PCK), with special focus on programming as a topic in secondary school Informatics education. For this research, we developed an online research instrument: the Online Teacher \small PCK Analyser (OTPA). The results show that Dutch teachers' \small PCK scores between low and medium. Also we enquired whether there is any relation between teachers' \small PCK and the textbooks they use by comparing the results of this study with those of a previous one in which the \small PCK of textbooks was assessed. The results show that there is no strong relation. Finally, we looked for trends between teachers' \small PCK and their educational backgrounds, as most of the Dutch teachers have a different background than Informatics. The results show that also in this case there is no strong relation.

The paper composes a framework for learning design, using Web 2.0 technologies in teacher training, transferring the advancement in technology to become an affordance in the teaching/learning process, based on Bloom's Extended Digital Taxonomy in order to enhance the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge of teachers. As a case study, it shows how ELTE University tries to develop sustainable innovation of competencies in digital literacy and modern teaching/learning methodologies directly among the teaching staff in teacher training and student/future teachers as well as indirectly within public education in order to transfer innovation there. The complex aims of a specific course Educational Technology are described with detailed explanation of the methodology used in attaining the prescribed aims, giving links to the concrete tools and resources used. The description of course requirements are tagged with features of the nature of the learning design as being transmissive, dialogic, constructionist and co-constructive, illustrating how each element contributes to the adaptation of theory into practice. The role of a newly established T@T Mentoring Network is explained, which presumes sustainability for innovation within teacher training and the network of in-service and practicing teachers.

Information and communications technologies today are used in virtually any university course when students prepare their papers. ICT is also needed after people are graduated from university and enter the job market. This author is an instructor in the field of informatics related to health care and social sciences at the Riga Stradins University. In practice, he has found that after completing informatics courses (IC) at the university level, students and practicing specialists at various levels find it hard to decide on what data processing method to use in order to interpret extracted results in the relevant area of specialisation. There are various data processing methods in the literature, presented individually and without adequate linkages. The author has found in practice that when such assignments are handled, there is closer linkage among data processing methods than the literature would suggest.