From Editor

Dear TOJDE Readers, Welcome to the Volume 14 Number: 3 of TOJDE! In this issue, 17 articles of 28 authors from 9 different countries around the world have been published. These published articles are arrived to the TOJDE from, Greece, India, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey and USA. The 1st article is arrived from Greece and written by Evangelia MANOUSOU, Tutor-Counselor and Antonis LIONARAKIS. Their article deals with a documented research in order to create a pedagogical framework for the application of a supplementary distance learning program in the field of environmental education for pupils of primary education, in remote and multi-grade schools of Greece. This prospect has been considered as an interesting idea with multilateral, socio cultural and democratic dimensions, as it could enrich the school and learning environment of children of the outermost regions. In this paper, there are described the planning criteria and the development of a polymorphic pedagogical material for distance learning, under the title: 'Captain SOS, His Bunch and the Moving Island', the needs according to the characteristics of the target group, the choice of learning theories and the determination of the teaching techniques, the specific teaching techniques and the teaching methodology, the structure of the learning material, the characteristics and the structure of the educational software, the categorization of activities, the supplementary learning material. Moreover, there are described the pilot application and the ways of the evaluation. In the 2nd article is mentioned in context, he emergence of video sharing technology and high-speed broadband connectivity initiative offers a great choice for users throughout the world to share videos online. However, most of the video sharing sites are not primarily educational. Therefore, this study intends to introduce a framework in choosing and installing open source products for teachers and students in developing specialized online video sharing platform for open education. The paper also reports a comparison study on four most credible open source video management systems (VMS) and titled as “OPEN SOURCE VIDEO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (VMS) FOR OPEN EDUCATION: A Comparision Study”, which is written by Ahmad Zamzuri MOHAMAD ALI, Faculty of Art, Computing and Creative Indusrty, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900, Tanjong Malim, Perak, Malaysia. The 3rd article from Turkey which is written on “EXAMINING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ COGNITIVE ABSORPTION LEVELS REGARDING TO WEB AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LOCUS OF CONTROL”, written by Cem CUHADAR, from Trakya University, Faculty of Education, Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technologies, Edirne, Turkey. This current study investigated university students’ cognitive absorption levels according to several variables, and presented the relationship between cognitive absorption and locus of control. Study resorted to a descriptive model. Participants were 374 undergraduate students. The Cognitive Absorption Scale and Locus of Control Scale were used to collect the data. Independent samples t-test, one-way between-groups ANOVA, correlation and regression analyses were used to analyze data. Findings suggested that university students had above average cognitive absorption.Moreover, the higher the general internal control/personal control was, the lesser the cognitive absorption level. It was plausible to infer that information and communication technologies served as sources of pleasure and curiosity for university students. However, for students with a higher internal locus of control, levels of pleasure and curiosity dropped. The fourth article written on “STEPP: A Grounded Model to Assure the Quality of Instructional Activities in e-Learning Environments” by Hamdy AHMED ABDELAZIZ who is Associate Professor of e-Learning and Training Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain & College of Education, Tanta University, Egypt. The present theoretical paper aims to develop a grounded model for designing instructional activities appropriate to e-learning and online learning environments. The suggested model is guided by learning principles of cognitivism, constructivism, and connectivism learning principles to help online learners constructing meaningful experiences and moving from knowledge acquisition to knowledge creation process. The proposed model consists of five dynamic and grounded domains that assure the quality of designing and using e-learning activities as social, technological, Epistemological, psychological and pedagogical Domain. Each of these domains needs four types of presences to reflect the design and the application process of e-learning activities. These four presences which are cognitive, human, psychological presence and mental presence. Applying the proposed model (STEPP) throughout all online and adaptive e-learning environments may improve the process of designing and developing e-learning activities to be used as mindtools for current and future learners. The 5th article is arrived from Iran which is written on “THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND THE ESPECIAL EMPLOYED LEARNING STRATEGIES DURING EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT” written by Fateme BEHABADI, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Palestine Square, Department of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages and Behnam BEHFROUZ from Applied-Science University, Motahary Martyr Street, Joghatay City, Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran. They emhasis in their study that most of the early studies in the field of language learning strategies focused on identifying the characteristics of good language learners. Identifying and discussing the strategies used by good language learners were considered as a good way to make the learners aware of the notion of language learning strategies. The present study was an attempt to collect and classify the characteristics of representative good language learners, developing English as a foreign /second language in Iran; specifically those who had achieved high scores in the IELTS General Module. And also this study aimed at identifying the characteristics associated with a good language learner in one area: learning strategies. Thirty-four Iranian IELTS candidates receiving 6+ band score were selected to participate in this study. They were interviewed and asked to write down their own reports of the experiences they had in developing their second language. They were asked to report their preferred strategies while studying English as well. They were also requested to fill out the learning strategy and learning style questionnaires. The results of interviews and open ended questions were specifically organized and classified via employing both descriptive and explanatory methods. The learners’ responses to the standardized questionnaires also were analyzed by SPSS system Version 20. The findings of the present study although revealed that there is a high correlation between IELTS scores, strategy taking inventory scores. This revealed that the learners recording high scores in IELTS use appropriate learning strategies. 6th article is again from Malaysia. Article is titled as “ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE USE OF LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A Case Study” written by Fuad A. A.TRAYEK and Sharifah SARIAH SYED HASSAN from Institute of Education International Islamic University Malaysia. Learning management system (LMS) is a learning platform for both full time and distant learning students at the International Islamic University in Malaysia (IIUM). LMS becomes a tool for IIUM to disseminate information and learning resources to the students. The objectives of this study were to investigate students' attitudes toward the use of LMS, to verify the impact of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on attitude towards use of learning management system, to examine the differences in attitudes toward the use of LMS between distance learning and full time students. The results of the study showed that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness determine students' attitudes toward the use of LMS. However, this study did not find any significant differences between distance learning and full time students. According to the findings the study recommended that the University should continue using LMS because it is useful for both distance learning and full time students. Further suggestions are made to customize and upgrade the LMS suitable for innovative teaching and learning. 7th article is from from Turkey and titled as “WEBFOLIO APPLICATION IN PRIMARY EDUCATION: Qualities and Usability of Webfolio System”, written by Dr. Sayım AKTAY, as thesis from Giresun University, Faculty of education, Department of Primary Education, Classroom Teaching, and Mehmet GULTEKIN, from Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Department of Primary Education, Classroom Teaching, Eskisehir, Turkey. They metion that in today’s world, educational establishments should follow and utilize technological developments in order to improve the quality of educational activities. One of the fields that technology can be integrated into educational establishments is evaluation. There is a tendency of process evaluation in today’s evaluation field, and portfolios are among these process evaluation tools. In order to provide a faster and easier process, portfolios have been prepared in electronic settings and transformed into e-portfolios. Moreover, in time, e-portfolios had to be moved into web to improve their efficiency, and web-based-portfolio (Webfolio) emerged. The aim of this study is to identify the qualities of products, which came up as a part of webfolio application applied in primary education, and to determine the use of webfolios both by students and teachers. In this study, which aims to determine how effective webfolios are, one of the qualitative research designs, Natural Inquiry Approach was preferred. In this study, one of the purposeful sampling methods, criterion sampling was used was held in a private school connected to National Education Directorate of Eskisehir in 2008-2009 academic year spring term. Webfolios prepared by students, assignments given by the teacher, and other digital data available in webfolio system were used as data collection tools. When student webfolios were examined concerning their quality, most webfolios prepared by the students were found to be qualified enough in terms of readability, authenticity, timeliness, and the use of media sources. However, most of the student webfolios do not have a systematic design. The assignments given by the teacher was determined to be readable, clear, and has no misspelling. It was also observed by them that the teacher urged students to deliver their webfolios in time, suggested the use of class book and the Internet. Students, in their webfolios, preferred using text, picture and tables, but did not prefer to use video sources. The 8th article is titled as “SWOT ANALYSIS OF MA EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME OF ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD” written by Dr. S. Manzoor Hussain SHAH and uazzam Ali SAQIB from Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad, Pakistan. Their major objectives of the study were to explore various internal aspects of the MA Educational Planning and Management (EPM) programme of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad to find its strengths and weaknesses, and to look into external aspects for identifying the opportunities and threats to the programme. Based on the study, a number of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were found which provided a basis for reviewing and revising a number of components of the programme. The study explored the various aspects of MA EPM programme of AIOU in the light of programme objectives as well as the national and international needs with special considerations to a distance education programme.The finding of the study revealed recognition of a number of strengths and opportunities of the programme related to enrolment, workshops, examination, job placement, job satisfaction, and performance of the graduates in a competitive environment. At the same time, the study reflected few weaknesses and threats to the programme associated with the written assignments, tutors, study material, study tours, relevance of the curriculum to local needs, need to update the content, and revision of the curriculum. Recommendations of the study include periodically revising the curriculum, upgrading the courses books, improving the evaluation methods of assignments, introducing more activities for both learning and evaluation, and including study tours in the workshops. The study also recommended the EPPSL department to induct part-time/visiting faculty members in emergency situations to achieve the programme objectives. The researcher further recommended the EPPSL department to maintain the record of the graduates for prompt access to them for research purposes and to train the students for offering more cooperation with the researchers. More follow-up studies may be conducted to determine the viability and impact of EPM programmes of AIOU on the society. The 9h article is from Turkey and titled as “ASSESSING CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN MATHEMATICS: Using Derivative Function to Solve Connected Problems”, written by Nevin ORHUN, from Anadolu University, Science Faculty, Eskisehir, Turkey. According to the author open and distance education plays an important role in the actualization of cultural goals as well as in societal developments. This is an independent teaching and learning method for mathematics which forms the dynamic of scientific thinking. Distance education is an important alternative to traditional teaching applications. These contributions brought by technology enable students to participate actively in having access to information and questioning it. Such an application increases students’ motivation and teaches how mathematics can be used in daily life. Derivative is a mathematical concept which can be used in many areas of daily life. The aim of this study is to enable the concept of derivatives to be understood well by using the derivative function in the solution of various problems. It also aims at interpreting difficulties theoretically in the solution of problems and determining mistakes in terms of teaching methods. In this study, how various aspects of derivatives are understood is emphasized. These aspects concern the explanation of concepts and process, and also their application to certain concepts in physics. Students’ depth of understanding of derivatives was analyzed based on two aspects of understanding; theoretical analysis and contextual application.Follow-up interviews were conducted with five students. The results show that the students preferred to apply an algebraic symbolic aspect instead of using logical meanings of function and its derivative. In addition, in relation to how the graph of the derivative function affects the aspect of function, it was determined that the students displayed low performance. The 10th article from Thailand which is written by Orachorn KITCHAKARN from Bngkok University, and titled as “PEER FEEDBACK THROUGH BLOGS: An Effective Tool For improving Students’ Writing Abilities”. This study is second part research of the autor. The first part was published previously again in TOJDE sı that we publish it to compete eachother. Study is investigated the effects of peer feedback activity through blogs on students’ writing ability and examined their attitudes towards peer feedback activity. The research was conducted using a single group pretest-posttest design. Blog, the website, was used as a medium for peer feedback activity. Participants were 34 second-year students who studied EN 013 course (English for Expressing Ideas) in the first semester of the academic year 2012 at Bangkok University. Two writings tests and a questionnaire were used as instruments for data collection to acquire information. The results revealed that students’ writing scores on the pretest and posttest were significantly different. It can be concluded that peer feedback activity through blogs had a significant role to play in improving students’ writing skill. The students also expressed positive attitudes towards the value of peer feedback activity. 11th article from Uludag University, Turkey and written on “PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF BLENDED UNIVERSITY CHEMISTRY COURSES” by Zehra OZDILEK and Sehnaz BALTACI-GOKTALAY, Faculty of Education Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies.The aim of the study is to examine how blended learning can be used more effectively for university chemistry courses, based on the perceptions of students. The sample included 179 pre-service science teachers in year one through year four who had taken a university chemistry class. Qualitative data were gathered through open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis. The results revealed necessary design characteristics for an effective blended chemistry course from students’ point of view regarding content of online instruction, the teaching methods, interface design, use of media and other visual elements, usability, design techniques, and facilitator role. The 12h article is experienced as a case study from India. Written by Moumita DAS and Chinmoy Kumar GHOSH, Director National Centre for Innovations in Distance Education (NCIDE) Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India on “INNOVATION IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING SYSTEM: The IGNOU Experience”. Authors are discusse a new innovations for the IGNOU by mentioning that The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) occupies a prominent position in the academic world by way of shouldering the responsibility of providing quality education to the growing numbers of learners. Its journey of achieving its objectives is marked with the problems of efficiency, equity, quality and benchmarking of the ODL system. The IGNOU had established the experience that there are several impediments to innovation, most of which are of bureaucratic nature. In this paper we present our experience of nurturing innovations with an aim to sensitize the ODL functionaries towards creativity and innovation. Next and 13th article is about “DIGITAL “TSUNAMI” IN HIGHER EDUCATION: Democratisation Movement towards Open and Free Education” written by Jean D. COMEAU from Segi University, and Penang, and Tung Lai CHENG from School of Business & Administration, Wawasan Open University, Penang, Malaysia. They mentioned and dicussed in their article that results of the digital “Tsunami” changes in education in the 21st has been huge. Recall that in the year 2000 there was no such thing as internet broadband, Facebook or iTunes which is now a daily commodity. No doubt changes in technology will continue to accelerate. Education is about learning. Learning happens everywhere and technology creates a platform of almost limitless opportunities for better learning. With the recent digital development of Open Education Resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), these emergence towards free and open resources and courses has a tremendous potential to democratise education. There is no denying that it’s one of the biggest discussions being had in education and around the world. Will the digital ‘tsunami’ phenomenon revolutionise the landscape of education? Some believe that this new medium will revolutionise both online and conventional education. This paper attempts to explore the hype issues that surround the notion of democratisation movement that gears towards open and free education. This paper looks into the impact and the types of evidence that are being generated across initiatives, organisations and individuals in order to make a summative analysis and recommendations. Finally, this paper hopes to provide some insight into the dynamics of the evolution of digital ‘tsunami’ in present higher education. The 14th article is from USA, and entiled as “WHAT’S IN A NAME: The Amateur‘s View of Good Practices in Naming an Online Educational Program” written by Michael J. ROSZKOWSKI, PhD, Assistant Provost for Evaluation Services, from La Salle University, Philadelphia, USA. He mentioned that branding is considered to be particularly important in the marketing of online educational programs. A critical step to establishing the brand is naming the product appropriately. To this end, one can secure the services of professionals or to rely on a do-it-yourself approach. The research reported here aimed to identify the features that non-professionals (graduate students) consider to be important in the name for an on-line educational product, and to compare these to the recommendations made by naming professionals (as reported in the literature). A survey directed at current and prospective graduate students at a traditional university asked about the desirability of 16 characteristics in the name of a new line of online courses. The six characteristics that were deemed most critical are (in order of importance): self-explanatory, memorable, easy to pronounce, has appealing associations, suggests/hints at the key features, and short. These are the same features that professionals in the business of creating new product names generally consider as best practices in creating a name. The results show that contrary to the concerns expressed by some practitioners in the naming industry, college-educated individuals who do not create names for a living nonetheless demonstrate an awareness and appreciation for the features of a good name in an Internet-based course delivery system. The 15th article titled as “USING MOBILE PHONES TO PROMOTE LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION AMONG OPEN SCHOOLING STUDENTS: Promises, Possibilities, and Potential Strategies”, and written by Pradeep Kumar MISRA, Associate Professor (Educational Technology), Faculty of Education and Allied Sciences, M. J. P. Rohilkhand University, India. Across the globe, life skills education has been usually developed as part of a school initiative designed to support the healthy psychosocial development of children and adolescents. In other side, formal education system not always provides young people with good opportunities to become confident and realize their potentials. In this back drop, the biggest challenge is to identify the best strategies for providing effective life skills education to those many children who never attend secondary school or reach an age of high vulnerability and risk taking behaviour in the years immediately before reaching secondary school. Considering the situation that in different parts of the world, majority of the youths is having a mobile or will have a mobile soon, the researcher is of the view that mobile phones can be a viable option to offer life skills education to open schooling students coming from different cultural and social settings and backgrounds. Following this approach, present paper mainly discusses about: promises offered by mobile phones for life skills education; possibilities for using mobile phones as an effective, efficient and economical option for offering life skills education; and potential strategies to offer mobile phones supported life skills education to open schooling students. Next article from again Iran written on SURVEY OF DISTANCE EDUCATION ROLE IN UTILIZATION OF ENVIRONMENT COMPONENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION by Seyedeh Zahra SHAMSI PAPKIADE, Seyed Mohammad SHOBEIRI and Mohammad Reza SARMADIfrom Peyam-Noor University, Tehran, IRAN. The aim of their research is survey of distance education role in utilization of environment components in higher education. This research in phase of goal is applied and in base of research method is a descriptive survey. Statistical society in this research is student of TEHRAN PNU university in 2010-2011 that research method is in base of stratified sample .this selection has been done among ten provinces that had the most frequency at these universities. It has done with MORGAN formulation for four hundred people. Gathering instruments of information is questioner, which is in base of the research purpose. ALFA Cronbach,s was used for durability and validity (a=0.86).in this research statistical method is descriptive and inferential with SPSS (one-sample T Test). Results illustrated that students believed distance education does not have any role in effect ions of environmental education and Independent-samples T-test shows that distance education instruction will change the environmental behavior of student to achieve goals. Also in view of responders, there are barriers in distance education utilization for performance of environmental education. The 17th article is from Tuekey conducted on “SUPPORT AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES IN INTERNET-BASED DISTANCE EDUCATION” and written by Dr. Aslı TIRNOVALI and Assist. Prof. Dr. Figen KILIC from Education Faculty, Department of Educational Sciences, Mersin University Yenisehir, Mersin, TURKEY. In this study, it is aimed to propose practical suggestions through determining the state of support activities and social activities among internet-based educational programs in distance education. In line with this aim, students’ and instructors’ views related with support activities and social activities practiced in the programs within internet-based distance education models applied in Mersin University Mersin Vocational Schools were gathered. 502 students and 30 instructors participated in the study. The quantitative data was collected through surveys, and the qualitative data was gathered through interviews. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the categorical data. Moreover, the qualitative data was analyzed via content analysis. According to the findings of the study, students needed to get support about education directives, career guidance, technical equipment, and personal problems. In this issue we published two book reviews. The first issue on “UNIVERSITY TEACHING IN FOCUS:A Learning-centred Approach” which is edited by Lynne HUNT and Denise CHALMERS and reviewed by S. K. PULIST from india. He empasises about the book that The book as the name depicts, focuses on different aspects of university teaching from learner-centred point of view. A wise range of issues has been highlighted and properly addressed by the authors in a very diligent manner. It will help the teachers in constructively engaging the students in effective learning. It is a step forward towards empowering the upcoming teachers with necessary strategies and stand point so that they are able to help the students in enhancing their quality learning. The book would be helpful not only to the novice teachers who have just stepped in the teaching profession but also other stakeholders of higher education system. 2nd book review is on “TRENDS AND ISSUES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION: International Perspectives, Second Edition”, edited by Lya Visser, Yusra Visser, Ray Amirault & Michael Simonson and Reviewed by Dr. Dilek ALTUNAY from Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, TURKEY. She mentioned about the book that this book makes a contribution to the field of distance education by offering a comprehensive overview and analysis of the current trends and issues in distance education. In addition, the book is well-organized and coherent in terms of presentation. The reader is guided by section editors who provides introduction to the section and an overview of the chapters in the section, which makes the book reader-friendly. To receive further information and to send your recommendations and remarks, or to submit articles for consideration, please contact TOJDE Secretariat at the below address or e-mail us to tojde@anadolu.edu.tr Hope to stay in touch and meet in our next Issue, on 1st of October 2013. Cordially, Prof. Dr. Ugur Demiray Editor-in-Chief Anadolu University Yunusemre Campus 26470 Eskisehir TURKEY Tel: +90 222 335 0581 ext. 2521 or 2522 GSM: +90 542 23 22 167 Fax: +90 222 320 4520 or Emails: udemiray@anadolu.edu.tr or udemiray33@gmail.com URL: http://home.anadolu.edu.tr/~udemiray URL: http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr