Attitudes and Behavioural Intention of Academic Staff regarding Learning Management Systems at selected Nigerian Universities
- Authors: Osode, John Isioma , Lautenbach, Geoffrey
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Academic Staff , Digital Technologies , HEIs
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/490491 , uj:44758 , Citation: Osode, J.I. and Lautenbach, G., 2021, July. Attitudes and Behavioural Intention of Academic Staff regarding Learning Management Systems at selected Nigerian Universities. In EdMedia+ Innovate Learning (pp. 59-68). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
- Description: Abstract: This research explores the attitudes and behavioural intention of academic staff at selected Nigerian universities related to learning management system (LMS) use. Previous studies have shown that academic staff in Nigeria have little or no interest in the adoption and use of digital technologies planned and deployed in their institutions. This paper suggests ways that higher education institutions in Nigeria can encourage positive attitudes and affect the behavioural intention of academic staff to use LMSs proficiently. Academic staff (n=122) from three Nigerian universities were targeted using a simple random sampling method and requested to complete an online survey. Results of the research disclosed that academic staff had positive attitudes and some behavioural intention to use LMSs for teaching and learning, despite the organisational and technical infrastructure not being available to them. Consequently, this non-provision appears to have stifled the positive attitudes and behavioural intention of academic staff towards LMS use.
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The Role of ICTs in Collaboration During the COVID-19 School Year
- Authors: Schutte, Peter , Durandt, Rina , Lautenbach, Geoffrey
- Date: 2021
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/490483 , uj:44757 , Citation: Schutte, P., Durandt, R. and Lautenbach, G., 2021, July. The Role of ICTs in Collaboration During the COVID-19 School Year. In EdMedia+ Innovate Learning (pp. 280-284). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
- Description: Abstract: The focus of this research was on the role of ICTs in collaboration amongst teachers in five secondary mathematics departments. Data was collected through an online form, which was largely defined from a previously utilized social network survey for educators from North Western University, and analyzed through a social network analysis method. Results indicate that ICTs played a significant role, largely via email, in providing a communication medium to secondary mathematics teachers that allowed collaboration to take place during the COVID-19 affected school year. The identified networks of collaborative interactions exhibited patterns of subgroupings, high status connected individuals, and a higher frequency of certain types of collaborations. There is also evidence that teachers rarely go outside their school departments for collaborations. Results could also be interesting for post-COVID school years.
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World, interrupted : online learning in the time of a pandemic
- Authors: Lautenbach, Geoffrey , Randell, Nardia
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/457555 , uj:40607 , Citation: Lautenbach, G. & Randell, N. 2020. World, interrupted: Online learning in the time of a pandemic.
- Description: Abstract: This paper considers the views and opinions of a cohort of educators at a variety of levels - primary and secondary schools, Higher Education Institutions, as well as corporate training - busy with an online programme on ICTs in education when the pandemic led to the immediate lockdown of schools. We document the process of lockdown in a developing context and how it impacted on the lives of these participants as they dealt first-hand with the realities of teaching during a pandemic. Using direct quotations from discussion forums in the online module, as well as structured journal entries by the participants, we highlight both good and bad practices, stories of struggle and success, as well as accounts of uncertainty and hope. The notion of anticipatory anxiety as a result of social lockdown restrictions during this time will also be covered in terms of its impact on mental health and wellbeing, with special reference to the neuroscience that underpins this phenomenon. Strategies for management of this autonomic activation to build resilience and coping skills will also be discussed, as well as the need to address issues of cognitive dissonance and fatigue caused by increased online interactions. As we approach a gradual return to the “old normal” (which some of us believe we should not do) while still watching the approaching tsunami of COVID-19 peak, these important issues will become more relevant as we surf the waves that are still to come.
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A theoretically driven teaching and research framework: learning technologies and educational practice
- Authors: Lautenbach, Geoffrey
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Learning technologies , Design-based research , Educational design research
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/370856 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/274503 , uj:29291 , Citation: Lautenbach, G. 2018. A theoretically driven teaching and research framework: learning technologies and educational practice.
- Description: Abstract: The emphasis of this paper is on the derivation of design principles from qualitative analysis of student reflections based on their participation in authentic, collaborative, technology-mediated activities. This paper reports on the initial phases of a design-based research project at a comprehensive university in South Africa where the authentic nature of the activities contributed to the depth of student reflections and ultimately led to meaningful design principles based entirely on the experiences of students. Students’ reflective reports were analysed for their content using simple inductive coding techniques leading to the identification of themes and the derivation of design principles from further refinement of these themes. These design principles, therefore, have their origins in the specific theories underpinning the learning activities that were used in the teaching and learning process, and contribute once again in an innovative way to this same body of knowledge. This theory-driven praxis thus makes a contribution to both educational theory and teaching practice which is applicable across a variety of contexts and sectors worldwide. More importantly, this can be seen as meaningful research that is socially responsible, with a high theoretical and practical value, and of relevance to a wider international audience.
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Professional development of science teachers:the A-team hybrid ecology of learning practice
- Authors: Pretorius, Erica , De Beer, Josef , Lautenbach, Geoffrey
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Science - Study and teaching (Graduate) , Science teachers - Training of , Science teachers - Inservice training , University of Johannesburg - Science and Technology Education
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6151 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13721
- Description: Professional development interventions in South Africa do not always address teachers’ needs or necessarily result in better realisation of outcomes in science. South African teachers’ learning of science and their emerging science pedagogy need urgent attention and this issue can be addressed through focused continuing professional teacher development (CPTD) programmes. The University of Johannesburg launched a unique CPTD project named the A-team project – Excelling in Science Education in October 2010. This project focused mainly on developing the science teachers’ inquiry-based teaching approaches, advancing scientific process skills and enriching their pedagogical content knowledge in CAPS themes. The aim of this longitudinal empirical qualitative study was to introduce both primary and secondary school teachers to new (and exciting) science experiences in hybrid ecology of learning practice. In this intervention the hybrid group of science teachers experienced a wide range of different activities. As the project progressed, we tapped into the overwhelming social capital resources of scientists, professors and the Natural Sciences, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences teachers themselves sharing a wealth of experience and information. The findings of this study revealed that hands-on activities in real laboratories not only improved the science teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge but also motivated teachers to include inquiry-based teaching strategies in their classroom practices.
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Electronic asssessment in higher education
- Authors: Brink, Roelien , Lautenbach, Geoffrey
- Date: 2011-02
- Subjects: Electronic assessment , Higher education , Educational assessment , E-assessment
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5762 , ISSN 1465-3400 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7768
- Description: Assessment is an important cornerstone of education. “Assessment is central to the learning process and is a crucial aspect of teaching. It is the most significant factor that influences student learning” (UniSA Learning Connection, 2008). A world trend in staying abreast of the latest developments in the field of ICT has led to an increased demand for electronic assessment in education circles. The critical need and responsibility for higher education to stay on par with the latest techniques regarding assessment subsequently led the University of Johannesburg (UJ) to implement electronic assessment in some departments in 2004. Several challenges led to this exploration into the use of one e-assessment tool within the University.
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An interactive, multivariate projection model for the alignment of teacher demand and supply for schools in the Gauteng Province of South Africa : a disaggregated approach.
- Authors: Marchant, Gavin , Lautenbach, Geoffrey
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Teacher supply , Teacher demand , Multivariate projection model
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5760 , ISSN 1947-9417 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7766
- Description: This paper reports on the conceptualisation of a multivariate interactive computerised teacher demand and supply decision support model of projection for the Further Education and Training band (FET) of public schools for the Gauteng Province of South Africa. This model was conceptualised with the view to enabling policy makers to make projections that estimate aggregate or disaggregate teacher supply and demand. A reductionist methodological approach was used in this inquiry with the intention of reducing the ideas surrounding teacher supply and demand into a discrete set of variables reflected in a multivariate model. It also reflects a deterministic philosophy of cause and effect, as variables are manipulated within the model. Knowledge is developed in this inquiry through the development of multiple numeric measures of the objective reality of teacher supply and demand. The main contribution of this inquiry is the computerised disaggregated teacher supply and demand projection model. This model not only contributes to the knowledge base of educational planning and forecasting, but provides a clearer picture of the complex variables involved in teacher supply and demand as well.
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Learning to be researchers in an e-maturity survey of Gauteng schools
- Authors: Lautenbach, Geoffrey
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: E-maturity , Authentic research , Information communication technology
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5752 , ISSN 2076-3433 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7756
- Description: I report on postgraduate students conducting survey research on information and communications technology (ICTs) in South African schools, focusing on the notion of e-maturity. The dual emphasis of the paper is on students’ collaborative experience of the authentic research process including their experience of e-maturity within the target schools and leads to a discussion in two parts around notions of novice student research and e-maturity. Fifty students, most of them practising teachers, participated collaboratively in the design and implementation of the survey. Discussion in this paper is based on the qualitative analysis of 50 research reports submitted on completion of the survey field work. I analysed the reports inductively for their content using simple in vivo coding techniques and structured quotations into flowing narratives to illuminate both issues. Findings show that the participatory and collaborative nature of the research process contributed markedly to the composition quality of student research reports. Student understanding of the research process through meaningful engagement in authentic field work has also greatly improved their insights into ICTs in education and the current e-maturity of participating schools.
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Student-generated design principles for transforming an educational technology module
- Authors: Lautenbach, Geoffrey
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Educational technology
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6095 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/10968
- Description: This paper reports on research where student reflections were used to derive design principles for the transformation of an undergraduate module to better address issues around the use of educational technologies in teaching and learning. The emphasis of this paper is on the derivation of design principles from student reflections after participating in authentic, collaborative, tool-mediated activities. Students’ reflective reports were analysed for their content using simple coding techniques leading to the identification of themes and the derivation of design principles. Findings show that learning activities grounded in a defined theoretical framework markedly improved the depth of student understanding of issues related to teaching and learning with technology. The authentic nature of the activities also contributed to the depth of student reflections which ultimately led to meaningful design principles based entirely on the experiences of students.
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