2 – 4 December 2009
Day 2
Dr. Intan A Mokhtar
Assistant Professor
Policy and Leadership Studies
National Institute of Education,
Nanyang Technological University
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2. Instructional Technology Tools
(Continuation)
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Searching the Web
Robotic search engines


Use algorithms or software known as spiders
to crawl the Web through hyperlinks,
looking for popular or relevant webpages
Two kinds:
Regular search engines eg. Google, Live
Search
 Meta-search engines eg. Dogpile, Mamma

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Searching of documents and websites on the
Web through the use of keywords or search
strings
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Searching the Web
Subject directories
 Such as Yahoo, Dmoz Open Directory
 Shows a list of general subjects eg. News,
Science, Health, Arts, Business, etc.
 Each category is sub-divided into sub
categories eg. Health > fitness, medicine,
alternative medicine, etc.
 Useful for subject- or discipline-oriented
search
 Categories and websites are selected by
human indexers
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Searching the Web
Online databases
Collection of documents or bibliographic
information related to specific disciplines


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Documents  full-text database
Bibliographic information  index
Requires network connection
 Hyperlinking and cross-referencing may be
possible
 Examples are MedlinePlus, IMDB, DOAJ

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TEA BREAK
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3. Issues
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Evaluation of IT resources
Interoperability
&
Transferability
Knowledge
&
Skills
Budget
Issues
Accessibility
&
Equity
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Security
&
Privacy
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Evaluation of IT resources
Accessibility & Equity
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Not all IT resources are available to all students
e.g. students with computer + Internet
connection vs. students with only a computer
Some IT resources are freely available while
others require subscription or affiliation-based
access
Some IT resources are accessible only by those
who have specific faculties intact e.g. multimedia
video presentation (requires sight + hearing) vs.
a textbook (requires sight only)
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Evaluation of IT resources
Accessibility & Equity
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Different IT resources can provide different
quality of information e.g. comparing
historical information delivered through an
audio recording vs. the same information
delivered through a multimedia video
presentation
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Evaluation of IT resources
Budget
How much money will it involve to procure
certain IT resources? Are funds available?
 If not, what alternatives are there?
 No. of licenses available  can each trainee
have access?

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Evaluation of IT resources
Interoperability & Transferability
Upgrade from existing set of IT resources
 Can older versions be used with the new
ones?
 Can the new versions be used on different
platforms? e.g. Apple iWork (Pages + Keynote
+ Numbers) in an MS Office Suite (Word +
Powerpoint + Excel)

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Evaluation of IT resources
Knowledge & Skills
What sort of prior knowledge or skills are
required? E.g. some prior programming
language?
 How much new knowledge or skills are
required? E.g. learn a new programming
language?
 Will the new knowledge or skills be easy to
obtained? How much time will be required?

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Evaluation of IT resources
Security & Privacy
Can the IT resources be used remotely?
 Or would a network connection always be
required?
 If the IT resources are downloaded, are there
cookies involved? Will privacy be invaded?
 How secure is it to use the IT resource? Risks
of viruses or spyware?

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Evaluation of IT-based information
5Ws + 1H of IT-based information
(Adapted from Schrock, 2009)
WHO
Who wrote the information and are they experts?
Is a biography of the author(s) included?
How can I find out more about the author(s)?
WHAT
What does the author say is the purpose of the
information?
What else might the author have in mind for the
information?
What makes the information easy to use?
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Evaluation of IT-based information
5Ws + 1H of IT-based information
(Adapted from Schrock, 2009)
WHEN
When was the information created?
When was the information last updated?
WHERE
Where does the information come from?
Where can I go to find out more about the
information (i.e. references, related readings)?
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Evaluation of IT-based information
5Ws + 1H of IT-based information
(Adapted from Schrock, 2009)
WHY
Why is this information useful for my
purpose?
Why should I use this information?
Why is this page better than another?
HOW
How does this information differ from another
that is similar?
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Evaluation of IT-based information
Search Activity
Find information on a specific topic of your choice using:
(i)
A robotic search engine
(ii)
A subject directory
(iii) An online database
Determine the following:
a.
How many ‘clicks’ you need to make before getting
to the information required
b.
If the information requires subscription
c.
When the information was last updated
d.
Who put together/produced the information
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LUNCH
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4. Assessment
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Assessment
Assessment is carried out to determine
learning effectiveness and gauge
performance or achievement
 In other words, assessment is done on the
process and product
 Formative assessment measures the
process  how methods/learning can be
improved; strengths and weaknesses
 Summative assessment measures the
product  how well has something been
achieved; ranking system with parameters
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Assessment
BOTH formative and summative
assessment should be carried out to give a
complete picture of the effectiveness +
performance
 Qualitative and quantitative methods can
be done for both formative and summative
assessment
 Qualitative : descriptive, more subjective
 Quantitative: numerical, set parameters

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Assessment
Qualitative
Blogs – reflection of experiences, learning
process, identification of strengths and
weaknesses
 Discussion forums – sharing of ideas,
critique of one another’s ideas
 Wikis – collection of information that has
been built collaboratively (improvement of
one another’s contributions)
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Blogs, Reflective journals and
Discussion forums
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Blogs  Blogger, Live Journal, Word Press, etc.
Discussion boards or forums  allow you to be
the administrator (control content and
membership)
Freeboards – free web hosting, decide on URL
name, link from own website, requires
registration
Yahoo Group– free, on Yahoo site only, requires
registration, security may be questioned
phpBB – free open source software,
downloadable and to be hosted on your own
server
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Blogs, Reflective journals and
Discussion forums

Wikis  allow you to create a sharing space BUT
you can also control if it is for content
contribution or reading only
Wikispaces – free and paid plans available,
WYSIWYG editing, 2GB file storage on server,
requires registration
Wikisite – free, WYSIWYG editing, requires
registration, 3 hosting solutions (personal, group
or advanced)
Common wikis include
Wikipedia
Wikimapia
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NUS Wiki
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TEA BREAK
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Assessment
Quantitative
Online tests and quizzes – to assess
content knowledge and understanding; to
compare across students
 Some are created directly and stored on a
central server
 Some require software to be downloaded
onto your own computer and thereafter
uploaded onto a central server
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Hot Potatoes, Easy Test Maker
and Quiz Center
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Hot Potatoes – freeware, requires software to
be downloaded onto your computer. Completed
quizzes can be uploaded onto the Web.
Easy Test Maker – free but registration
required (including email and postal address).
Immediate use of default package upon
registration. Extra features available with
subscription.
Quiz Center – free but registration required
(including email address only). Much easier
access.
Class Marker
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Exam Builder, Clickers
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Exam Builder – used by Fortune 500
companies, timed examinations; statistics
provided; 30-day free evaluation account; after
that subscription required; hosted and
managed solution
Clickers – remote personal response system;
NOT for free, purchase required; use radio or
infra-red frequency for each clicker to
communicate with the receiving station on the
instructor’s computer; provide immediate
feedback to MCQs or T-F questions
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End of Day 2
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