DISTANCE LEARNING IN EDUCATION HOW TO DESIGN A FRONTER CHEMISTRY COURSE Małgrzata Bartszewicz, Grzegrz Krzyśk Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty f Chemistry, Department f Chemical Educatin, Pznań, Pland gskab@amu.edu.pl, krzysk@amu.du.pl Abstract: Many educatinal institutins intrduce platfrms as a tl fr learning and perfecting the educatinal prcesses. On the Plish market, Frnter platfrm has becme ppular wing t Dlnśląska e-szkła [ Lwer-Silesia e-schl ]. Pearsn undertk develpment f Frnter platfrm and cnstructed exemplary learning rms in accrdance with the Plish cre curriculum. The paper presents the develped teaching materials fr the curse n the Frnter platfrm. Keywrds: platfrm, Frnter, chemistry, educatin, LMS INTRODUCTION Frnter was created in 1998 in Nrway by Rger Larsen and Bjarne Hadlandplatfrm as an educatinal LMS (Learning Management System). Frm 2008 t 2015 the cmpany belnged t Pearsn Grup and in 2015 it was acquired by a Nrwegian cmpetitr, It's learning. Frnter is a virtual learning envirnment that can be used depending n yur needs. Frnter supprts the preparatin, cnduct and analysis f lessns. It als prvides tls that allw fr dcumenting the results f teaching and cmmunicatin between schl, teachers, students and parents. Frnter is designed t supprt gd teaching by creating educatinal platfrm that is user-friendly fr teachers. It is a website facilitating teachers t get children invlved in learning, by supprting their self-active stance in this regard (Figure 1). Wrking envirnment at Frnter takes the structure f a virtual building, cnsisting f crridrs (is the unit used t grup the rms in which we define the right t create and supervise the halls n the platfrm) and rms (is the basic unit in Frnter, in which the teacher delivers r carries ut the subject/ curse/ prject r exercise, etc.) equipped with educatinal tls. Using the right crridrs, lecturers and students can access rms designed fr them (usually crrespnding t specific subjects). A pwerful tl fr viewing statistics allws the creatr f the curse t
468 Małgrzata Bartszewicz, Grzegrz Krzyśk check the activity f its users (persns with authrised t lg int Frnter and t access the grups (and rms)), (number f visits in the hall, the executin time f each curse mdules). cntent - multimedia, exercises, interactins prcess - reprting, supprt, assistance FRONTER human factr - educatin, culture, preferences technlgy - repsitries, prtals Figure 1. Frnter learning envirnment. When designing a curse elearning platfrm shuld begin planning (Figure 2). Figure 2. Frnter planning and learning. Pages are a practical tl in Frnter, which allws t create entire lessns, develp individual cncepts r rganize items in the netwrk. Finally, let us mentin the uncnventinal tl in the cntext f learning: discussin frums. On ur platfrm yu will find five types f frums, ranging frm a simple cnversatin r multithreaded discussin thrugh the debate with the psitins and mderated discussin, and ending with "brainstrming". In practice, it is a tl t encurage students t wrk tgether, t exchange views, t be
Distance Learning in Educatin Hw T Design 469 supprted by a teacher r even t creatively master r develp lessn tpic (Figure 2-3). texts links PAGES images sund recrdings vides Figure 3. Frnter pages. Evaluatin f the student's wrk is nt nly imprtant fr the teacher and fr the fficial "statistics", but als fr themselves and fr their parents - because next t the pssibility f giving grades, we develp functins t facilitate the exchange f views n the wrk f the child r his/ her wn self-assessment (Figure 4). Figure 4. Frnter evaluating and analysing. The final interesting example f "evaluatin n Frnter" can be the bjectives f educatin. They can be imprted in the frm f a cre curriculum fr Frnter, but they als can be defined at the level f the subject and the class, r individually fr
470 Małgrzata Bartszewicz, Grzegrz Krzyśk each student. Then we can assign them t individual resurces, tasks r tests n Frnter and evaluate the prgress against such bjectives fr each student. 1. FRONTER PLATFORM SUBJECT ROOMS Free patterns f subject rms, which can be used by teachers in any way in the wrk with students. This prject was initiated, cnducted and supervised by Pearsn, and the cntent develpment prcess was managed by a team f dedicated and creative teachers. This way, 17 template rms n several different educatinal levels were created, each f them with the ability t be dwnladed t Frnter (Table 1-3). Rm Frnter - template rms fr Primary schl ( classes 4-6) Curse 1 English (part 1) 2 English (part 2) 3 English (part 3) Rm Frnter - template rms fr Secndary schl (classes 1-3) Curse 4 Chemistry 5 Physics 6 Bilgy 7 Cmputer science 8 Mathematics 9 Plish language 10 Histry Table 1. Table 2.
Distance Learning in Educatin Hw T Design 471 Figure 5. Hme page f Chemistry Rm dedicated t secndary schl students. Chemistry subjects n Frnter fr secndary schls: Rm In the chemical labratry Mixtures and their separatin Metals and their allys Peridic table f elements Oxygen Water Hydrxides Acids Salts Hydrcarbns (Figure 5) Frnter - template rms fr Pst-secndary schls (classes 1-3) Curse 11 Chemistry 12 Physics 13 Bilgy Table 3.
472 Małgrzata Bartszewicz, Grzegrz Krzyśk 14 Cmputer science 15 Mathematics 16 Plish language 17 Histry Figure 6. Hme page f Chemistry Rm dedicated t pst-secndary schl students. Chemistry subjects n Frnter fr Pst-secndary schls: Glass Sil Petrchemistry Fermentatin Fd Beverages Medicines Addictive substances Cleaning supplies Chemical packaging (Figure 6)
Distance Learning in Educatin Hw T Design 473 2. RECOMMENDED FRONTER PLATFORM CHEMISTRY MATERIALS FOR STUDENTS OF SECONDARY AND POST- SECONDARY SCHOOLS The presented recmmendatins fr chemistry lessns n Frnter platfrm were prepared based n e-textbk (www.epdreczniki.pl). Tpics were selected frm the available cntents (in accrdance with the chemistry cre curriculum fr pst-secndary schls educatinal stages III and IV). The fllwing was recmmended fr each f the ten selected units: experiment that students can independently perfrm at hme Hme chemical labratry - and then present the results n the platfrm in the frm f phtgraphs r a vide f the curse f such experiment. This wrk can be dne as an intrductin t a lessn - in the case f pre-teaching ("reverse class" wrk methd) r traditinally after the lessn; multimedia cntent, the purpse f which is nly t supplement the traditinal methd f teaching and the experiments carried ut during lessns. At any time, the teacher can enrich lessns with multimedia cntent: educatinal vides, pht and image galleries, illustratins, simulatins, diagrams, tables and presentatins. They nt nly prvide educatinal material, but abve all becme an inspiratin fr students and teachers t create new resurces. tasks fr independent wrk f students. An imprtant argument in favur f recmmending wrk with Frnter platfrm is the fact that it activates all students whse actins can be designed and mnitred by a teacher wh is able t diagnse and reprt student prgress n an nging basis. Figure 7. Hme page f page dedicated t secndary schl students.
474 Małgrzata Bartszewicz, Grzegrz Krzyśk Figure 8. Hme page f page dedicated t pst-secndary schl students. Each unit includes: experiment t be carried ut independently hme chemical labratry (fig. 9) Figure 9. Hme chemical labratry experiment t be carried ut independently at hme. Student hmewrk can be evaluated using task tl by way f keying in ntes and grades fr each student's wrk. These wrks may be in the frm f e.g. Wrd file - which is cnvenient because f the pssibility f checking and adding nline ntes by the teacher. But it can be als a dcument n the platfrm r sund recrding. A student can als add the self-assessment f the cmpleted task. Educatinal materials, including: references t lessns in e-textbk, films, animatins, presentatins
Distance Learning in Educatin Hw T Design 475 Figure 10. Cntents f e-textbk and ther Schlaris type prtals fr pstsecndary schl students. Practice materials, including: interactive tests, tasks, exercises, exemplary frum discussin tpics; Figure 11. Learning Apps exercises fr secndary schl students.
476 Małgrzata Bartszewicz, Grzegrz Krzyśk Figure 12. Learning Apps exercises and exemplary test fr pst-secndary schl students. Tests include several different types f questins, bth clsed and pen. In bth cases - althugh it will be mst cnvenient with the clsed questins we can define the crrect answer and ask the system fr autmatic calculatin f the result, as well as see detailed statistics f the test. Tests include questins f the fllwing type: single selectin scrll-dwn list yes/ n multiple chice brief answer elabrated answer match the answer
Benefits Distance Learning in Educatin Hw T Design 477 Figure 13. Exemplary test fr pst-secndary schl students. 3. FRONTER PLATFORM FOR HIGHER EDUCATION CASE STUDIES Mst f the Nrwegian academic institutins have been invlved in the develpment and deplyment f Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Frnter, Blackbard Mdle, and WebCT. The dminant LMS-system is Frnter, an nline learning platfrm. In this chapter we present the benefits and learning capabilities frm the studies f Frnter usage at tw universities in Nrway: Buskerud Cllege University (HiBu) and university f Agder (UiA) (Figure 14,15). Structuring the learning envirnment by having all infrmatin in ne place Discussin bards were useful t activate the students Frnter was regarded as useful and efficient fr evaluatin and feedback n students assignments Efficient reuse f learning material frm ne year t anther Learning path is a functinality in Frnter beneficially fr custmized learning Figure 14. Frnter benefits. Surce: Own wrk based n Bechina, Hustad, 2010
Learning capabilities 478 Małgrzata Bartszewicz, Grzegrz Krzyśk Practive wrk: students can better prepare themselves, Frnter enables easy fllw-up wrk, learning material always availableflexibility anytime, anywhere Use f discussin bard prvides learning effects, the students needed t regularly cndense learning material t cntribute in discussins Reusing and imprving learning material may influence the learning prcess fr instructrs increase efficiency The functinality has a ptential fr imprving the learning prcesses e.g. prgramming curses thrugh sequentially learning Assignments and tests in Frnter may enhance learning effects regular testing was regarded as imprtant fr learning Figure 15. Frnter learning capabilities. Surce: Own wrk based n Bechina, Hustad, 2010 CONCLUSION Frnter platfrm have been adpted by several educatinal institutins in rder t cpe with stringent requirements fr faster and mre flexible educatin and higher pedaggical quality. In Pland, Frnter platfrm creates tremendus pprtunities fr supprting, preparing, cnducting and analyzing lessns. It als prvides tls that allw dcumenting the results f teaching and cmmunicatin between the schl, teachers, students and parents at each stage f educatin. This paper has discussed the factrs hampering r fstering the learning capability by investigating the deplyment and the use f a learning management system Frnter that is used by tw Nrwegian educatinal institutins participating t the evaluatin. In Pland, the Frnter platfrm can supprt teachers in creating new, riginal curses and chemistry lessns that develp skill sets using the technlgy fr distance learning.
Distance Learning in Educatin Hw T Design 479 REFERENCES Bartszewicz M., 2015: Chemia gimnazjum, [n-line] at https://frnter.cm/pce (accessed 24 July 2016) Bechina A.A., Hustad E., 2010: A Framewrk t Understand Enablers and Inhibitrs in a Learning Management System: Experiences frm Frnter, Special Issue f the Internatinal Jurnal f the Cmputer, the Internet and Management, Vl.18 N. SP1, http://www.ijcim.th.rg/specialeditins/ v18nsp1/v18nsp1.htm (accessed 24 July 2016) Frnter 2016 [n-line] at https://frnter.cm/pce (accessed 24 July 2016) Frnter[n-line] at https://pl.frnter.cm/ (accessed 24 July 2016) Frnter [n-line] at www.frnter.cm (accessed 24 July 2016) Kpciał P., Plebańska M., 2013: Platfrma Frnter jak system zarządzania wiedzą e-mentr, 3 (50), ISSN 1731-6758 Krzyśk G., 2015: Chemia szkła pnadgimnazjalna, [n-line] at https://frnter.cm/pce (accessed 24 July 2016)