Using an Outcome-Based Information Technology Curriculum and an E-Learning Platform to Facilitate Student Learning

Introduction Universities in the USA and worldwide are taking a critical look at their educational systems. A recent US national panel (Greater expectations report, 2002) calls for a dramatic reorganization of undergraduate education to ensure that all college students receive not just access to college, but an education of lasting value. The report also recommends colleges to help students become "intentional" life long learners, and to create new assessments that require students to apply their learning to the real world. In an effort to shift the focus from the traditional teaching/lecture style to a student centered learning style, a number of academic institutions in the USA have moved to an outcome-based education framework. Outcome-based education is a method of teaching that focuses on what students can actually do after they are taught (Bouslama, Lansari, Al-Rawi, & Abonamah, 2003). All curriculum and teaching decisions are made based on how best to facilitate the desired outcome. This leads to a planning process that is different from the traditional educational planning. The desired outcome is first identified and the curriculum is created to support the intended outcome (Furman, 1994). Furthermore, advances in networking technologies and the Internet have dramatically impacted teaching and learning in higher education (Hodges, 2004; Muhlhauser and Trompler, 2002; Smith & Winking-Diaz, 2004). E-learning has become very popular in the last decade and now impacts learners of all ages. E-learning may be defined as "the delivery of education through various electronic media, and in a broader context it may also be defined as the effective use of technology to meet society's needs for learning (Cohen, & Nycz, 2006). In a technology-mediated learning environment, students and teachers use a wide range of information and communication tools (ICT) to communicate, collaborate and share resources. These tools provide anytime-anywhere learning opportunities. Web-based learning (WBL) has become a major trend in teaching and learning. Universities worldwide are offering access to a number of their courses on the Web. Some universities have produced reusable Web-based multimedia presentations. Currently, various tools can be easily used by authors to record and encode streams of audio and video and then integrate them in multimedia materials such as PowerPoint slides (Bodendorf, Schertler, & Cohen, 2005). There are two major classes for web based learning systems: synchronous and asynchronous (Kinshuk & Young, 2003; Neubauer & Lobel, 2003). Synchronous WBL systems are used to create a virtual classroom environment where all students are accessing the same information. Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) systems, on the other hand, are asynchronous in nature and designed to replace physical classrooms with the virtual ones (Litiu, 2003; Marsic, Dorohoceanu, & Tremaine, 2002). Most commonly available WBL systems are asynchronous in nature. In these systems, a web server hosts course contents and other teaching materials. Learners have access to this material at anytime from anywhere using any web-browser (Linge, 2003). Currently, all Zayed University (ZU) courses are implemented using a WBL system. In technology mediated learning environment systems, the following factors contribute to effective online learning: using relevant and challenging assignments, having coordinated learning environment, adequate and timely feedback from instructors, developing rich environments for student-to-student interaction, flexibility in teaching and learning. In a good technology mediated learning system, students must be able to read, critically reflect, discuss, argue, generate and present new interpretations, share and exchange information ideas. Traditional as well as completely online learning environments each have their own limitations. A hybrid approach that combines traditional teaching with online learning could provide the best of both worlds. …