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The use of e-learning platforms, the way to increase qualityand efficiency in studying PhysicsLuminita Dinescu1, Maria Dinica1, Cristina Miron1, Emil Barna1(1) University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics405, Magurele Str. Atomistilor, 77125, ROMANIAE-mail: dinesculuminita@yahoo.comAbstractReality shows that everywhere in the world education and the educable have changed,unconditionally surrounding to the new technologies of information and communication. Thisis the reason why the teacher has to assume new roles according to the new evolution. Thisfact imposes a new way of thinking and acting in order to renew the pedagogical instruments.It has been noticed in the last decade a tendency of decreasing the weight that Physics haswithin the curricula both at the gymnasium and high school level. In this context, if it isdesired that the student should acquire knowledge, competences, behavior and attitudesaccording to the proposed objectives, it is becoming absolutely necessary to find somemethods and complementary means that should facilitate the achievement of all those. We aimto prove through this paper that the use of an e-learning platform within the teachinglearning-assessing process, the Caroline Platform, can lead to a significant increase in theefficiency of studying Physics. This platform was used in order to offer support for teaching,learning and assessing. It can be used whether for a teacher-conducted study or for anindividual study, giving the students the possibility to acquire knowledge and skills, accordingto their own possibilities and rhythm.Keywords: E-learning, Knowledge, Efficiency of learningIntroductionThe dynamic of the scientific knowledge, the fulminatory development of information and therapidity of its spreading everywhere confer a new position to the science and technique, dominatedby the incontestable growth of people’s knowledge needs.Since we belong to a society of knowledge, it is natural that the educational system shouldmanifest a wide opening to the progress of science and technique. It is expected that a society thatwill be more and more based on knowledge should become more and more dependent on thelearning process, become a society of study, of training and eventually an extreme educatedsociety (Cerghit, 2008). From this point of view the partners in the educational process, bothteachers and students, should define new roles according to the new evolutions. The educatorsmust find and implement such methods that give access to an easier learning. Several studies showthat information and communication technologies (ICT), if properly used, contribute to the qualityof education and training and to Europe’s move to a knowledge-based learning/programme en.html).ICT facilitate the access to information and its processing. Learning and assessing theknowledge by using the computer at school or at home is very attractive and significantly increasethe effects of the teaching process (Dobrzański and Honysz 2007). Also, e-learning can be asolution: Opening up education and training systems and working to make these systems more
The 5th International Conference on Virtual Learning ICVL 2010493attractive, and even adapting them to meet the needs of the various groups concerned, can play animportant part in promoting active citizenship, equal opportunities and lasting social cohesion(http://europa.eu/legislation summaries/education training youth/general framework/c11049 en.htm).E-learning offers new opportunities for both educators and learners to enrich their teaching andlearning experiences, through virtual environments that support not just the delivery but also theexploration and application of information and the promotion of new knowledge (Holmes andGardner 2006). Compared to the traditional teaching-learning-assessing methods, e-Learningdifferentiates through several elements (Cucos, 2006):Traditional formationE-learningTime managementThe formation ways are established and imposed to The student himself organizes his formation duringeverybody, beyond the working timethe working timeThe organization of pedagogical pathLinear and predefined progressionProgression adaptable to each individual, accordingto the situationConnection with operational activitiesWith no immediate connectionIntegrated to the operational activitiesWaysPunctual activity having a precise place, andContinuous activityimposed beginning and ending dataContentThe content is the same for everybody and it has to The content takes account of the individual needssatisfy as many as possibleand of the interactions between participants andIt is described through curricula, in a centralizedtutor.way.The content changes continuously, through theIt takes account of the changes only too late.users, the experiences appeared and ineditedpractices.Table 1. Comparison traditional formation versus e-LearningE-learning platforms are software that organize and automate many of the activities associatedwith e-learning.E-learning platforms are applications used for delivery of learning content and facilitation oflearning process (Sife et al, 2007).E-learning platforms offer users a structure that can be easily adapted to multiple uses fromaugmentation of “brick and mortar” education to stand-alone training exercises (FIG, 2010).The use of e-Learning platform offers benefits(http://www.jordanecb.org/pdf/EduWave Brochure.pdf):For students: a number of comprehensive tools and learning resources help students track theirprogress, improve their performance, and enjoy their learning experience; students can access theirlearning material and textbooks - personalized and in rich media format - from any computer,anytime and anywhere; students can interact with their teachers and with each other throughmultiple communication and collaboration tools such as e-mail, discussion forums and groupstudy-sessions; they can also perform online tests and access their homework assignments, gradesand school calendar at all times.For the teachers: it helps teachers to better manage and utilize their time, and increaseefficiency in the classroom allowing more room for innovation and creativity; teachers are able toquickly author and publish customized learning content to suit their students’ specific needs, andcommunicate complex ideas and concepts; teachers are able to measure individual student
494University of Bucharest and University of Medicine and Pharmacy Târgu-Mureşperformance and progress; they can design and conduct online tests, assign homework and issuestudents’ grades automaticallyThe benefits being obvious for both students and teachers, the use of e-learning under its variedaspects becomes opportune and necessary within the teaching-learning-assessing process.The use of Claroline e-learning platform within the teaching-learning – assessing process atPhysicsIt has been noticed in the last decade a tendency of decrease the weight that Physics has in thecurricula for secondary and high school.A particularity of the teaching-learning-assessing Physics consists in the fact that during thisactivity the basic thinking operations (analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison and logicalmaterialization) are formed and developed on a wider scale than at other subjects. The samehappens with the types of thinking (algorithmic and heuristic, deductive and analogical, divergentand convergent, reproductive, productive and critical) (Malinovschi, 2003). In this context, if it isdesired that the student should acquire knowledge, competences, behaviour and attitudesaccordingly to the objectives, it becomes absolutely necessary to find some complementarymethods and means that could facilitate his acquisition. The term “complementary” points out thefact that these modern methods and means, accessible due to the fulminatory evolution oftechnology, do not replace “the traditional”, but it completes it, in a mutual interrelation. The waywe have chosen to compensate the insufficient number of hours allocated to Physics was through asite (www.dinescu.info). This does not substitute the traditional class, but it helps students tofathom, systematize and set their knowledge and competences outside classes, in their own timeand rhythm.We have decided on this solution because it ensures an increased autonomy, the content of thematerials being in accord with the target students’ level, study profile and interests.The site was accessed during the school year 2009-2010 by the 11th grade students. At thislevel, the content of the curriculum related to the number of hours allocated to this subject is overdimensioned. The students’ access on the web site was based on a username and a password.The home page contains the argument for the creation of the site, the description of thesoftware support, online courses, the description of the target group and a guide for using it, as it isshown in Fig. 1.Figure 1.Home page site
The 5th International Conference on Virtual Learning ICVL 2010495The accessing of the educational content can be done through the Claroline e-learningplatform, due to some considerations: it is easy to install and administrate; it can be used whetherfor the teacher-conducted or the individual study. The Claroline platform is organized around theconcept of spaces related to a course or a pedagogical activity. Each space provides a list of toolsthat enable to create learning contents, manage training activities and interact with the students(http://www.claroline.net), as it is shown in Fig. 2.Figure 2.Claroline Platform ToolsThe use of this platform allows us:a) to manage documents and links (publishing documents and files accessible to the users,creating directories and sub-directories to gather files, creating hyperlinks and building your ownHTML pages). There were placed at the students’ disposal certain documents containing thesynthesis of the theoretical notions taught in class, links to sites where virtual experiments can bedone if the laboratory equipment does not permit to carry them out, as it is shown in Fig. 3.Figure 3. Documents and linksb) create online exercises (elaborating different types of questions, tracking the results of theusers). There were created evaluation and self-evaluation tests, with different items: multiplechoice, dual items, replacing items. More than that, students were also given the marking schemeof the tests, as it is shown in Fig. 4.
496University of Bucharest and University of Medicine and Pharmacy Târgu-MureşFigure 4. Online testc) develop learning path (creating complete sequences of learning activities, stimulating thestudents to read documents). Students can benefit from worksheets for the laboratory activity, sothat they could study them before the running of the experiment. Thus, during the class they canconcentrate on the practical activity, completing and processing the data in the existent files, as itis shown in Fig. 5.Figure 5. Laboratory activityd) coordinate group worke) produce: assignments and wiki (posting files that can interest other course members,submitting an assignment to the course manager)
The 5th International Conference on Virtual Learning ICVL 2010497f) organize: agenda and announcements(adding events in the course calendar, attaching to anevent a link to other tools of the course or to an existing resource)g) supervise: users and statistics (following the access to the platform, supervising theprogression of the users).At the end of the programme we made a succinct evaluation of it, because we have to payattention to the students’ satisfaction, to the impact of the technologies used and to the conditionsrequired in order to maintain students’ interest for these methods.In order to have a clear image over the success or failure of an e-Learning programme we mustcompare the performances obtained by the students within the two forms of instruction (traditionaland e-learning). We must also identify the pedagogical factors that contribute to the success of ane-learning programme and the ways in which these programmes can be improved.To receive a feedback for the developed activities we applied a questionnaire to the 72 studentsinvolved. It uses a 5-point scale and aims the students’ attitude towards the main components ofthe programme: course materials, the time allocated to a unit, tutorial support.Regarding the course materials the answers were: very much 72%, much 26%, a little 2%, verylittle 0%, not at all 0%.Regarding the time allocated to a unit the answers were: very much 37%, much 31%, a little18%, very little 10%, not at all 4%.Regarding the tutoring support the answers were: very much 45%, much 43%, a little 10%,very little 2%, not at all 0%.Analyzing the students’ answers it becomes obvious that there are aspects which can andshould be improved.The students’ involvement in evaluating each aspect of an e-learning programme can prove tobe useful for the right development of the entire process and for its following evolution.Most of the aspects related to the quality of the teaching-learning-assessing process cannot betaken into account without supervising it all along and without a global evaluation of the systemapplied. This approach implies the idea of the key role that assessment has in the continuousimprovement of the tutoring activities for students and in the development of the e-learning system.ConclusionsThe accessing of the educational content by the use of the e-Learning platform presented, confirmsthat e-learning method enables the introduction of the new education formula, which may includeadvantages of traditional teaching and distance education.Students consider this form of learning far more interesting and accessible since it facilitatesthe learning in their own rhythm, according to their learning style and it ensures the access to thematerials exactly when and where it is necessary.Secondly, the results of the evaluations were significantly improved and it was noticed adecrease of the number of students who presented a school failure risk. This can be explained bythe fact that the students benefit ever since the beginning of each unit from an evaluation matrixwhich specified when and how they would be assessed. The good results were also influenced bythe fact that the students looked through the evaluation and self-evaluation tests before the finalevaluation.A large amount of practical applications (problems and exercises), impossible to be carried outduring the classes and realized under the form of homework, allowed the instruction to bedifferentiated into process and product.However, besides the many advantages that e-Learning has, there are several disadvantages.Firstly, it requires that teachers should have experience in planning their own didactic materialsand making them accessible to the students, and the latter should also be experienced in accessingand using those materials.
498University of Bucharest and University of Medicine and Pharmacy Târgu-MureşSecondly, the use of an e-Learning system implies costs that might be very high and teachersor schools cannot always afford them.Finally, planning the materials and the tutoring with everything that it involves are great timeconsuming activities for the teachers.The quality of teaching and the efficiency of learning are not automatically improved by theuse of computer and Internet. However, the development and use of methodological and didacticale-learning concepts or a meaningful integration of multimedia learning modules in existinglearning environments can certainly lead to the expected progress (Bruhn-Suhr, 2004).ReferencesBruhn-Suhr, M., (2004) Success Factors for efficient e-Learning Development and Implementation, Bestpractice example at Hamburg University: OLIM – Management for Executives, Onlinehttp://www.eucen.euCerghit, I. (2008): Sisteme de instruire alternative şi complementare. Editura Polirom, Iasi.Cucos, C. (2006): Informatizarea în EducaŃie. Editura Polirom, Iaşi.Dobrzański, L.A., Honysz, R., (2007) Materials science virtual laboratory as an example of the computer aidin materials engineering, Journal of Achievements in Materials and Manufacturing Engineering 24, 2,219-222.FIG (2010): Enhancing Surveying Education through e-Learning, Published by The International Federationof Surveyors (FIG), Copenhagen.Holmes, B. and Gardner, J. (2006): E-Learning: Concepts and Practice. London: SAGE Publications,London.Malinovschi, V. (2003) Didactica fizicii. Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti.Sife, A. S., Lwoga, E.T. and Sanga, C. (2007) New technologies for teaching and learning: Challenges forhigher learning institutions in developing countries. International Journal of Education and Developmentusing Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 3, 2, education/programmes/elearning/programme en.htmlhttp://europa.eu/legislation summaries/education training youth/general framework/c11049 en.htmhttp://www.jordanecb.org/pdf/EduWave Brochure.pdf
Comparison traditional formation versus e-Learning E-learning platforms are software that organize and automate many of the activities associated . learning process (Sife et al, 2007). E-learning platforms offer users a structure that can be easily adapted to multiple uses from augmentation of "brick and mortar" education to stand-alone .
