Volumen 21 (2018): Edición 2 (December 2018)

Self-assessment is an important tool enabling learners at the level of higher education to control and construct their learning processes. To allow for further study, we modified a web-based self-assessment system to provide individuals with the opportunity to test and retest their own learning and receive feedback. This study included 59 students. Following completion of the test, feedback was structured based on a comparison of the student’s performance to the standard performance, their position in the group and their previous performances. Each test deadline had to be waited for determining the positions in the group of students and the delayed feedback were sent to the learners by e-mail. Through this external feedback, learners were able to intervene in their own learning process, thus achieving better future learning prospects and to observe the effectiveness of these intervention though feedback from the next assessment. We defined this process as the self-intervention perception process due to the active participation of the learner. The determination of the structures that affect the meaning and using of the feedback received by the learners were at the forefront. This study aimed to examine the relation between learners’ metacognitive awareness and their self-intervention perceptions and create a learner profile based on this information. Participants also completed Perceived Self-Intervention Scale and the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory. Learners with high levels of metacognitive skills awareness were found to have high levels of perceived self-intervention. Furthermore, knowledge of cognition had indirect effects on the perception of self-intervention, and that the regulation of cognition was the mediator variable.

Essentially social learning is a system where the learning occurs with and from others. Internet-based technologies have provided environments within which social learning can take place among very large groups covering various topics, ranging from academic to leisure.

In general MOOCs are academic-related courses offered by educational institutions, following a model of formal education, however they also take advantage of the concept of social learning, encouraging participants to learn together and from each other.

Crochet Alongs (CALs) are non-formal courses offered outside educational institutions. CALs give crocheters the opportunity to learn more about their craft within an Internet-based social learning system, while working independently on their own instantiation of a pattern released at intervals. Participants offer support to each other via social media, sometimes seeking help in overcoming problems and other times just to share success.

There is a considerable body of research into the MOOC phenomena, there is no such body of research into CALs, or other Internet-based craft courses. There are a number of similarities between MOOCs and CALs with some CALs attracting thousands of participants to freely available online courses. Contrasting MOOCs and CALs offers educationalists to explore alternatives approaches to social learning.

In Distance education, learning depends on the ability of the learner to manage his/her learning process, both through the creation of appropriate objectives, and by adopting strategies to achieve them. The role of the teacher is to develop an efficient methodology with flexibility over the learners’ special characteristics and to create conditions to enable the learners to manage their learning process. This research aims to investigate the parameters which are involved in synchronous teleconference and which lead to effective learning through the support of an autonomous environment. The research was conducted with students of the Annual Training Program for Teachers of Higher School of Pedagogical and Technological Education Department in Patras. The results show that teleconference as teaching tool can support the autonomous learning and can enhance personalisation as this process can help students to learn and develop skills by receiving efficient support.

With flexible learning, students gain access and flexibility with regard to at least one of the following dimensions: time, place, pace, learning style, content, assessment or learning path. Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) has launched a new flexible learning study format called FLEX, a blended learning design allowing students to be more flexible as to when and where they study. It reduces classroom learning time, replacing some of it with an e-learning environment for self-study that includes instructional videos. In a pilot phase, we conducted a semi-experimental study on the learning effectiveness of FLEX. Students’ perceptions of the new study format FLEX were found to be positive. In addition, the final test results of students in the FLEX programme were similar to those of other students, despite classroom learning time was reduced by about half.