Language and Literature
V. R. Mirzaeian
Abstract
One of major concerns of human beings regardless of their religion or school of thought is to observe ethical issues. This paper discusses the issue and lays emphasis on observing ethical matters in teaching in virtual learning environments in general and computer assisted language learning in particular. ...
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One of major concerns of human beings regardless of their religion or school of thought is to observe ethical issues. This paper discusses the issue and lays emphasis on observing ethical matters in teaching in virtual learning environments in general and computer assisted language learning in particular. The paper tries to throw light on the current status of observing ethical issues in virtual learning environments and drawing both instructors and students’ attention to this issue. The research has been conducted by using two questionnaires one given to students and the other to instructors. Data analysis revealed that majority of instructors observed ethical issues when confronted with students’ personal details. Students were most sensitive regarding disclosing their personal photos in these virtual environments; however, they were comfortable if their personal details were controlled by the instructors. The Chi-Square test showed no substantial difference between gender and observing ethical issues in virtual learning environments.
Alireza Moghaddam
Abstract
This article touches upon how virtual instruction, as an interdisciplinary window, might facilitate knowledge construction. In order to do so, an online educational platform and its capabilities are explored, and examples of collaboration are given. Then these examples are analyzed to figure out how ...
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This article touches upon how virtual instruction, as an interdisciplinary window, might facilitate knowledge construction. In order to do so, an online educational platform and its capabilities are explored, and examples of collaboration are given. Then these examples are analyzed to figure out how online collaboration could set the stage for knowledge construction. Participants included a number of preservice teachers who took a mathematics education course which was offered blended. The participants were put into groups of 6-9, and were asked to solve and discuss mathematical questions as well as how to teach them to elementary school students. Grounded theory method was applied to make sense of the data, and Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory of learning was used as a lens to look at the social environment. Findings show that knowledge construction is likely to happen in two forms, individual or social. When there is no reference to other postings or responses to an individual from any of the group members, individual knowledge construction is taking place. Conversely, when preservice teachers collaborate on an issue to help each other build knowledge of pedagogy and that of subject matter, knowledge construction is more social in nature. Moreover, the instructor's role, and capabilities of the platform are amongst the factors affecting knowledge construction.
