2 CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION Man has been trying to understand the changes going around him and constantly receiving a great number of impressions through his various senses such as hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. Making an effective use of his senses and using his communication ability, he accumulated information about his surroundings, organized this information and sought regularities that exist and finally transmitted his findings to the next generations. Since 1990 s, educational scenario over the world has undergone a transformation with the arrival of internet and teleconferencing. Such information technology has been able to transform the traditional classroom situation to electronic and virtual classrooms. Computer is the most important invention which man has found since the invention of printing machine while printing has amplified the process of information transmission, the computer has amplified the possibility of information processing. Computer awareness is basic to technological innovations in education. Computers are revolutionizing all fields of activity now-a-days. With quest for knowledge growing at a very rapid pace and with human intellect becoming more and more inquisitive, data analysis, decision making and presentation has become the most pointed aspects of the modern technological era.
3 While the speed of the computer is admirable, high quality data transfer rate mechanism must be found to improve or replace the telephone line transmission. Some of the most sophisticated applications of computers arise in computer-aided design, computer aided manufacture, computer-aided teaching and so on. In the classroom students use computers to develop science projects, prepare reports and gather information from electronic sources around the world. An intelligent student can vertically dive himself into the ocean of knowledge and delve deep to the extent that a teacher cannot always afford with human limitation. Computers can be used to deliver instruction affectively and efficiently. In computer assisted instruction, students interact with the content through instructional software or lessons delivered by the computer. Computer can be used as an enabling tool for all students including students with special needs. Students who have difficulty in writing, spelling, mathematics, organization and sequencing, find that computers make these tasks easier. The method of instruction in computer programming includes drill and practice, tutorials, games, simulations, discovery learning and problem solving. Computers also help for individualization and self pacing, immediate feed back, consistent correction
4 procedure, immediate knowledge of correct responses, well sequenced instruction and motivation. Information and technology is a unique combination. Information technology encompasses diversified aspects, such as, computer science and its applications, electronics, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, computer aided designing and computer- aided and integrated manufacturing electronics. UNESCO considers information technology as scientific, technological and engineering disciplines and the management techniques used in information handling and processing, their application, computers and their interaction with men and machines and associated social, economical and cultural matters. Educators have been talking about the enormous potential of electronic based education and training. Advances in telecommunication technologies, changing student demographics and the need for ongoing professional development have resulted in the proliferation of E-learning opportunities which is now introduced into the educational field. E-Learning is that form of learning which uses a net work for delivery, interaction or facilitation. Through E-Learning an online interaction is possible.
5 The term E- learning in general refers to learning facilitated and supported through the use of information and communications technology. It can cover a spectrum of activities from supported learning, to blended learning, to learning that is entirely online. E-learning, therefore, is an approach to facilitate and enhance learning through both computer and communication technology. E- learning today allows students to get fully involved in interactive and collaborative learning processes through the use of internet. With sufficient resources, educators and subject experts can codify large amount of information into readily accessible, aesthetically appealing, electronic text. It can be arduous process, much like a writing a text book, but with adequate time and incentives, it can be done. Web course authoring and delivery systems, such as Website, course builder etc also make it easier for educators to publish electronic documents and put course work online. E-Learning can be classified in synchronous and asynchronous mode. In a synchronous mode, classes are real time, which is instructional and the students are connected through a chat room. On the other hand, asynchronous E- Learning is that where a student can have an access to pre- packaged training, based on his requirements and conveniences.
6 During E-learning, communications are predominately asynchronous and mediated by technology opportunities to interact and adopt instruction based on verbal and non-verbal cues. As an integral part of E-Learning environments must be carefully designed and sequenced to promote key interaction that occur spontaneously in traditional classroom. Certain methods of E-learning such as EMAIL, VOICE CHAT, WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW), VOICE MAIL, VIDEO MAIL and VIRTUAL CLASSROOM are used for online communication with the students. NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE Same type of teaching is not effective in all situations and for all students. In normal classroom situation the need of the average student only is satisfied. So different methods should be used to make the teaching more effective and to cater the needs of the above and below average students. Today s educational system gives more importance to activity oriented method. Telecommunication is gaining importance in present situation and online education is the most recent form. It is commonly termed as distant education that incorporate satellite courses, computer based programme, video television and correspondence or home study courses. These methods attempt to move educational opportunities out from a traditional centralized classroom to a modern electronic classroom. Online education incorporates the group qualities of interactive classroom based learning while enabling individual students to participate in any programme.
7 Recently in every school, computer has been introduced with well equipped computer lab. The methods like Email, Voice chat and World Wide Web can be used for online teaching. By using online, the students get much detail about the topic from the expert teachers other than their class teachers. One of the most interesting and powerful dynamics in online communication is many to many communication quality that facilitates group learning. Any member can communicate with all other members in the given group network or conference. Each member in turn can reply not only to the sender but to everyone else in the network. Thus internet connects the pupil from various parts of the world and provides rich resource of information. Through websites, higher educational institutes can make use of them to impart education in an effective manner. Voice chatting helps the students to interact with the teacher and even clear their doubts. In traditional classroom learning the student s choices of institutions are limited to his geographical location, unless they are willing to relocate physically to the institution s location. E-learning looks promising to remove this constraint for many students by not requiring them to relocate to get their desired education from the institutions they prefer if E-learning can live up to the promise of a virtual classroom.
8 In traditional classroom learning, because of time constraints, a relatively small percentage of the students participate in class sessions. There is an initial feeling of anonymity in E-learning due to the lack of physical presence and absence of many of the usual in-person cues to personality, which allows students who are usually shy in the traditional classroom to participate actively in an E-learning class. Traditional classroom learning requires the student to capture the information when it is delivered. There is no option of revisiting the discussions other than referring to notes captured during the session or from memory. E- learning is expected to overcome this disadvantage by providing access to the sessions asynchronously after the virtual sessions. This asynchronous nature opens up another possibility of deferred learning at a convenient time of the students choosing. The emphasis on written word in E-learning should encourage deeper level of thinking among students. The fact that the student communicates their thoughts in writing to the teacher and the realization that those writings may be exposed fully or partially to the class permanently may result in deeper level of thinking and discussion.
9 It is believed that advances in telecommunication technologies are increasing access to educational opportunities. A good instructor can make up for poorly designed instructional materials by captivating learners with their charisma and by facilitating key interactions that may or may not have been designed as an integral part of instruction. There is an increasing need for continuing education in this fast paced world for the working population to advance their careers. But the opportunity for continuing education is limited to them due to the lack of courses available in tandem with their schedules. E-learning due to its asynchronous delivery should be able remove this constraint and make quality education accessible to a more wide audience. The researcher assumes that E-Learning technique could be more useful for the solution of many problems faced by our ordinary classroom, since it involves student-teacher interaction, on the spot doubt clearance and interacting with subject experts. In this context, the investigator considered it necessary to develop an E-learning strategy, which can convert the traditional classroom situations to electronic and smart classrooms. Hence the present study.
10 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The present study aims to develop an E-Learning Strategy for teaching Biology at Higher Secondary Level. So the study is entitled as Developing an E-learning strategy for teaching Biology at Higher Secondary Level. DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS E-learning : Learning that occurs through the predominate use of Telecommunication technologies such as Electronic Mail, Voice Chat, World Wide Web (WWW), Video Mail and Virtual Classroom. In the present study three E-Learning methods such as World Wide Web, E-mail and Voice chatting only are selected. OBJECTIVES 1. To develop a collaborative E-learning strategy for teaching Biology at Higher Secondary Level. a) To develop a Web site for teaching Biology at Higher Secondary Level. b) To develop an E-mail learning for teaching Biology at Higher
11 Secondary Level. c) To develop Voice Chatting technique for teaching Biology at Higher Secondary Level. 2. To find out the effect of collaborative E-Learning strategy on the achievement in Biology of the students at Higher Secondary Level. a) To find out the effect of Web site learning on the achievement in Biology of the students at Higher Secondary Level. b) To find out the effect of E-mail learning on the achievement in Biology of the students at Higher Secondary Level. c) To find out the effect of Voice Chatting technique on the achievement in Biology of the students at Higher Secondary Level. 3. To find out the effect of activity oriented method on the achievement in Biology of the students at the Higher Secondary Level. 4. To compare the total effect of collaborative E-learning strategy over the activity oriented method on the achievement in Biology of the students at Higher Secondary Level. a) To compare the effect of Website learning over the activity oriented
12 method on the achievement in Biology of the students at Higher Secondary Level. b) To compare the effect of E-mail learning over the activity oriented method on the achievement in Biology of the students at Higher Secondary Level. c) To compare the effect of Voice Chatting technique over the activity oriented method on the achievement in Biology of the students at Higher Secondary Level. 5. To compare the effects of Website learning, E-mail learning and Voice chatting technique on the achievement of students in Biology at Higher Secondary Level. 6. To find out whether there is any significant difference in the achievement in Biology of students when taught through collaborative E-Learning Strategy totally and independently according to their intelligence. HYPOTHESES Hypotheses formulated for the study are: 1. E-learning strategy totally and its different methods such as Website learning, E-mail learning, and Voice chatting technique are
13 more effective than the activity oriented method in teaching Biology at Higher Secondary Level. 2. Voice chatting technique is more effective for teaching Biology than the E-mail learning and Website learning. 3. E- Learning Strategy of teaching is equally effective on the performance of pupils with different levels of intelligence. METHODOLOGY IN BRIEF The investigator intended to develop an E-Learning strategy for teaching Biology at Higher Secondary level. For that the investigator selected three techniques of E-Learning strategy that is E-mail learning, Website learning and Chatting technique. First the investigator tried to develop the lesson transcripts for this technique. For this the researcher selected a topic from Biology text book of Higher secondary level.the chapter Photosynthesis was selected for the study.the chapter was divided into nine lessons.for preparing the lessons Direct Instructional model was selected. Since the study was based on self learning ie; the students learning through Website, E-mail and chat, the direct instructional model is found to be suitable. Keeping the model of GERARDO MENDOZA for 9 th grade Biology students the researcher prepared the lesson transcripts for
14 Website, E-mail and Chatting technique. Experimental method was selected by the investigator for finding out the effect of E-Learning strategy. The Pre-test, Post- test Non-Equivalent group design is adopted for conducting the study. This design is often used in class room experiments when experimental and control groups are such naturally assembled groups as intact classes which may be similar. The investigator selected two schools from two districts of Kerala and each school consists of two batches for science subject. One batch is taken as the control group and the other batch as the experimental group in which the experimenter manipulated the independent variable. The experimental group was divided into three groups and the selection was made randomly. On one group the investigator used the technique of the Website learning, for the second group E-mail learning and for the third group Voice chatting technique. Likewise the investigator divided the control group also into three. For finding out the effect of E-Learning strategy an achievement test has been prepared, standardized and administered by the investigator for both the groups as pretest and post-test. Then the investigator taught the experimental group using different techniques of E-Learning strategy such as website learning, E-mail learning and Voice chatting and the control group was using activity oriented method. Finally the experimental group was subjected to a Non-verbal intelligence test to trace out the group which gains much from E-learning strategy totally and independently. Results of the study were collected and subjected to different statistical analysis.
15 Independent Variable and Dependent Variable The independent variable is the method of teaching and the two strategies of independent variable selected are E-learning strategy and activity oriented method. The dependent variable of the study is achievement in Biology. Selection of Groups The intact classroom is taken as such. Here the investigator divided the control group into three groups. The selection was made on random selection method. Each group consists of sixteen students each. Like that the experimental group was also divided into three groups. Each group consists of sixteen students. On one group the investigator used the technique of E-mail learning, for the second group the investigator used the Website and for the third group the chatting technique. The investigator for finding out the effect of E-Learning strategy has prepared an achievement test. This achievement test has been given as the pre-test for both the control and experimental groups. Then the investigator used the activity oriented method for the control group and the E- Learning strategy over the experimental group. The same procedure was adopted in the other school which was selected from the second district. After teaching both the control and experimental groups the investigator administered the achievement test as the post-test. The answer paper was scored and the scores are has used for statistical analysis.
16 STEPS INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF E-LEARNING STRATEGY a) Creation of Website: The Website was created by using the softwares, Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language (DHTML) and Visual Studio 2003. This Dynamic HTML and Visual Studio 2003 is a Microsoft tool to create net programmes. The web server used was provided by a company called Comcast from USA which provides cable internet and webhosting facility. The website name for the study was http://home.comcast.net/~sunillawrence/default.html b) Preparation of Lesson transcripts for Website learning: Lesson transcripts were prepared in the form of Direct Instructional model. The content of the lesson was expressed in simple words with maximum explanation and examples. Through website the students learned themselves. Presentation of the content was followed by guided practice and independent practice. In guided practice, multiple choice questions were given. At a time student can select any one answer for each question. After selection of an answer, a popup message will be shown whether the student has selected the correct or wrong answer. If the student chooses correct answer then the message will show Correct with Green colour and if the student chooses wrong answer then it will show Wrong with Red colour, so that the student
17 can know whether his response is correct or wrong. In independent practice short answer type questions were given, space was allotted to write the right answer. The student should answer all questions in the specified spaces. After that if they want to know the correct answer, they can click Show Answer hyper link to view the correct answer. After viewing the correct answer if they want to hide correct answer they can click Hide Answer hyperlink. The student should answer all questions before clicking show answer, if they failed to do the same and they clicked Show answer hyperlink, a message box will show the message Please answer all the questions before clicking on show answer link. c) Creation of E-mail ID: To create E-mail addresses, the investigator selected the popular Yahoo server (www.yahoo.com). Through the Yahoo server free E-mail account can be created with free of cost. In the yahoo main page, there is one hyper link named Sign Up. In the sign up web page, the investigator feed the mandatory columns like Name, Sex, Date of Birth, Live in, Yahoo ID and Password of the student. Finally the investigator clicks the Create My Account button to create an E-mail account. In the same way for all students E-mail ID s were created.
18 d) Preparation of Lesson transcript for E-mail learning: The lesson transcripts with explanations and necessary diagrams were presented to the students through E-mail. No questions were given at the end of the lesson. Doubts of the students were cleared through E-mail. e) Creation of E-mail ID for Voice chatting technique: An E-mail ID for Voice chatting technique was created using the same procedure as in E-Mail learning. The created E-mail IDs of the students were added in the investigator s Yahoo Messenger list. Vice versa, the investigator s Yahoo E-mail was added in all students Yahoo Messenger list. Online interaction topic, date and time were announced to the students in advance, so that at the specified time the students can be online. f) Preparation of lesson transcript for Voice chatting technique: In Voice chatting technique the teacher delivers the lesson through online and the students listen it using their individual headset which has ear phone and microphone. Provision is also there for the students to clear their doubts. The particular point to be noted here is that teacher delivers the lesson from a distant place through online i.e. sitting in her home and not in the real classroom.
19 For finding out whether there is any significant difference in the achievements of the students when taught through E-Learning strategy and Activity oriented method according to the intelligence of the students. The investigator divided the experimental group into three, based on the intelligence test scores, viz- High, Average and Low. The achievement test scores of high intelligent students, average intelligent students and low intelligent students was compared using three group Analysis of variance. Like wise the students of three groups that is the E-mail group and website group and chatting group are again divided into three, under the headings high intelligent, low intelligent and average intelligent. Thus for each group the comparison was done using the three group Analysis of variances. Thus the effect of intelligence on the achievement of students taught through the E-Learning strategy was found out totally and independently. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Knowledge of science is more affective and enduring when it is obtained through personal observation and individual efforts rather than learnt from books or listened from someone. So individualized instruction gained its importance. Computer awareness is basic to technological innovation in education. Information technology has influenced all aspects of human life. Education is not an exception. At present people feel that the world has become a small village
20 because one can talk to anyone, enter into any library, discuss on any academic problem, share any idea, seek any information which is not commonly available. Multimedia, a combination of more than one medium, takes the inputs like text, graphics, sound, animation and video. It also combines an interactive program so that the user has control over the stored information. With the multimedia effect, the study material can be prepared by the experts. The database available on WWW helps to identify the experts. Internet based and video conferencing facilitates to interact with the experts for counseling on a particular problem. In this present educational scenario E-Learning strategy gains its importance. Due to innovation of information technology the educational field also gained its importance. Students gather the knowledge through different sources. In this situation online learning, website learning and e-mail learning established its importance. Through internet the students can conduct the resource person in any part of the world. Though the investigator made every attempt to make the study as precise and objective as possible, it is not free from certain limitations. The important among them are the following
21 Due to lack of time the study was limited to one standard that is plus one student. Only a single topic photosynthesis is taken and prepared for the study. Lack of computer and internet facility in schools blocks the innovative methods in teaching learning process. Some other limitations of this study are economical aspects and if electricity fails all the system would come to an end so these are the limitations the investigator faced during the study. Despite of these limitations, many of which are unavoidable in a study of this kind, the investigator claims that the present study was conducted in proper lines and highest possible degree of objectivity and precision. ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT The study has been reported in six chapters. Chapter-1 : Introduction Presents a brief introduction of the problem, need and significance of the study, statement of the problem, operational definitions of key terms, objectives of the study, hypothesis formulated, methodology and scope and limitations of the study.
22 Chapter-2 : Theoretical Overview Chapter-3 : Review of related literature Chapter-4 : Methodology Describes the methodology adopted for the study, it includes method selected for the study, design of the study, selection of the independent and dependent variable, selection of suitable unit for applying the method, selection of groups to be subjected to the experiment, tools, preparation and standardization of achievement test, intelligence test and statistical method used for the study. Chapter-5 : Analysis and Interpretation of Data collected. Presents the results of analysis made and interpretation of data Chapter-6 : Conclusions and suggestions It presents the summary of the study, major findings and suggestions for further research in this area.