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Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the provision of computer applications over the Internet via a Web Browser. Examples of these services include Google Docs (2009) by which word processing, spreadsheeting, and presentation software are made available. Such software is often free, and also enables sharing and collaboration between users. It has developed rapidly recently and this paper discusses how such technology can support the personal knowledge management (PKM) of students, where PKM is defined as "a process and strategy for properly using the tools of technology for enhancing information, learning and inquiry skills" (O'Conner, 2002).

Students who undertake courses of study at colleges and universities are generally more successful in their learning outcomes if they are able to manage their personal knowledge well and effectively. This paper begins by discussing the meaning of personal knowledge management (PKM) and how it relates to teaching and learning, particularly to a commonly used instructional design framework. Some of the electronic tools that students might utilise are then discussed. Finally several electronic tools that might prove useful to students to aid their PKM are suggested

Learning to program is difficult for novices with high levels of cognitive load being experienced. A new programming language, Scratch, has been created to help young students learn programming. However the system can also be used with older students in introductory courses in higher education. This paper discusses the new system and how ldquostandardrdquo algorithms might be created as a precursor to moving to a commercial programming language.

Technological improvements in hardware and software now permit the easy recording of lectures in either audio and / or video via screencasting. More universities are taking advantage of this by making lectures available in digital formats using software such as Lectopia (2008) and Camtasia (Techsmith, 2008). However this technology can be used to support learning in other areas including student feedback, the vicarious observation of dialogues, responses to student questions, and administrative issues. This paper uses a teaching and learning framework as a basis for discussing how screencasting and audio can support learning. It outlines the practical issues for instructors and students and provides suggestions for making the best use of these current technologies. Some of the qualitative feedback from online surveys that have been carried out with students at a university in Australia is utlised to support the discussion.

Advances in technology have made the use of digitized audio, often in the form of podcasts, more popular in recent years. The MP3 compression file format for such audio has become a defacto standard and the associated MP3 players are now ubiquitous. In the domain of eLearning, audio id perceived as a low-tech approach when compared with video technology. However such an approach can be useful as firstly, such audios can support mLearning as they can be listened to anywhere, and secondly, they are easy to produce for technology challenged instructors. This paper uses a teaching and learning framework as a basis for discussing how audio can support learning. It outlines some practical issues for instructors and students and provides suggestions for making the best use of audio. Some of the feedback obtained from online surveys that has been carried out with students at a university in Australia is utilised to support the discussion.

Learning to program is now a requirement in a diverse range of university courses. However research indicates that many students have great difficulty in learning this subject. This book describes an in-depth study that investigated a technology supported part-complete solution method for the learning of computer programming. One of the aims of the method was to help reduce the cognitive load experienced by students. A COde Restucturing Tool" CORT was developed to support this method and to provide a suitable learning environment. A series of programming problems was also developed for CORT and an experiment was undertaken with students who were studying introductory programming. Results from the study indicated that CORT imposed a low cognitive load on students; provided high levels of cognitive support; strong scaffolding for learning; and students engaged well with the system and generally used a thoughtful and considered strategy to solving programming problems. Findings indicated that the students who used CORT required significantly less time and less help than other students who learnt under conventional methods."

This paper reports on the findings from a quantitative research study into the use of a software tool that was built to support a part-complete solution method (PCSM) for the learning of computer programming. The use of part-complete solutions to programming problems is one of the methods that can be used to reduce the cognitive load that students experience during their learning. The tool that was built is a code restructuring tool known as CORT. An inquiry into its effect on student learning outcomes took place over a period of 14 weeks at an Australian university. Two student groups participated in an introductory programming unit, one of which utilized the CORT system whilst the other acted as a control group. No significant difference were found in the relative achievement of students in the CORT and non-CORT groups in tests of programming achievement. However the results showed significant advantages for the CORT students in terms of time saving and levels of tutor help required. Differences also emerged in levels of achievement between certain sub-groups, these being age, computer literacy and previous programming experience.

The learning of software development is difficult for many students. Often students start writing programming code as soon as they receive a problem statement without paying sufficient attention to program design. One of the most common ways to design the logic of a program is to use pseudocode, and yet many students do not like to do this. Reasons for this include: it is another language to learn; they do not think that they are actually programming; they cannot test their designs as the designs are not executable; there is not a rigid syntax and so students are unsure whether their pseudocode meets an instructor's expectations. This paper concerns the development of a simple tool that helps students create pseudocode. The tool has been used and evaluated in an introductory programming unit of study. The results suggest that the tool was easy for students to learn and that it helped support their learning.

This paper reports on the findings from a qualitative research study into the use of a technologyfacilitated part-complete solution method (PCSM) that was used to support the learning of computer programming. The use of part-complete solutions to programming problems is one way in which the cognitive load that students experience during learning can be reduced. A code restructuring tool, CORT, was built to support the PCSM and an inquiry into its effectiveness took place over a period of 14 weeks at an Australian university. Results suggest that: the system provided strong scaffolding for student learning; students engaged well with the system and generally used a thoughtful and considered cognitive strategy; and the highest level of support was for student semantic difficulties, although there was also strong support for algorithmic and structural difficulties.

This paper discusses how technology is being used to support the teaching and learning of Business Systems Development (BSD) in information systems courses. It begins by describing the current "conventional" methods including the use of case studies with role play and the use of commercial and educational CASE (computer assisted software engineering) tools. Three ways in which technology is now being used to improve BSD education are then discussed, these being on-line systems demonstrations, technology supported case studies, and CASE tools that support educational discourse. The technology supported case studies are web-based, make extensive use of hyperlinks, and allow students to explore a realistic business organisation in a similar way to a systems analyst in the real world. Finally, suggestions are made as to how such technology supported case studies can be improved, at relatively low cost, by the inclusion of electronic video clips. Such video clips could be used to improve the explanations of the virtual personnel within a case and also in dialogues between students and these personnel.

Students who undertake courses of study at colleges and universities are generally more successful if they are able to manage their personal knowledge well and effectively. This is important for all students, however it is of particular importance to international students where English is not necessarily their first language. This paper begins by discussing the meaning of personal knowledge management (PKM) and how it relates to teaching and learning, particularly to a commonly used instructional design framework. A low-level PKM architecture for students is then put forward and some of the electronic tools that students might utilise are then discussed. Finally a suite of tools is that might prove useful to students to aid their PKM is suggested

This paper concerns the teaching and learning methods, together with the tools utilised, in the third year undergraduate unit, Web Commerce Development, in the e-Business major at Edith Cowan University, Australia. The unit is relatively technical compared to other units within the major and it has the aim is to expose students to e-Business technologies so that they gain an awareness of where and when to use those technologies. Many students are not "IT" students and find the unit demanding. A task-based learning approach has been adopted in the unit and an on-line evaluation of the unit was undertaken. The findings indicated that students found the task-based approach and the collaboration that took place in the groups both enjoyable and helpful in their learning.

Many students find great difficulty with the learning of programming. This paper discusses some of those difficulties and ways in which the cognitive load that students experience can be reduced. One way of reducing the load is to make use of the cloze method that is used in English comprehension testing. When used with the learning of programming, the cloze method requires students to fill-in and complete a part-complete solution to a programming problem that has been given. A code restructuring tool, CORT, has been built by the author to support this method and utilised by students in an introductory programming course. Initial results suggest that students were encouraged and motivated whilst using CORT and that the time taken to complete problems and the help required were less than for students who did not use the tool.

It is well known that learning introductory software development is a difficult task for many students. This paper discusses some of the resources and tools that are available, or have been experimented with that might be of interest to instructional designers of programming. The resources and tools are discussed in the context of the four phases of the software lifecycle, these being: analyse the problem; design and develop a solution / algorithm; implement the algorithm; and test and revise the algorithm. The tools that are discussed include microworlds, videoclips, flowchart interpreters, and program animators.

Learning to write computer programs is not an easy process for many students with students experiencing high levels of cognitive load. This paper discusses the “completion” method of learning to program that requires students to complete solutions for incomplete programs that have been given to them. A software tool called CORT (Code Restructuring Tool) which supports the “completion” method of learning to program and that has been developed by the author is then described. Initial evaluations of the tool indicate that students who use CORT require less time to solve problems and require less resources than non-CORT students. There was no difference in the performance of both groups of students in a final examination.

Programming plans are stereotyped sequences of computer instructions, that form a hierarchy of generalised programming knowledge. They can be thought of as the building blocks of computer programs. In the learning of programming, it is necessary for students to build knowledge of a variety of plans that they can then make use of during the development of larger programs. This paper discusses two methods by which students can learn such plans, the "conventional" method that has been used by instructors for many years, and the "completion" method. The completion method requires students to complete part-complete solutions to given programming problems. As part of a research project, some students were observed using the completion method in conjunction with a software tool, CORT (code restructuring tool). The paper reports on one particular observation in which a student was required to build a programming plan. It concludes that the student gained a deep understanding of how the plan worked during the knowledge construction process.

Computer programming is a domain of knowledge that is generally considered difficult by students, many of whom experience low levels of achievement and become disillusioned. This paper suggests that cognitive load theory needs to be taken into account when designing instructional materials for this domain. The cognitive load that is experienced by a student can be considered to be made up of three types: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. Computer programming has a high intrinsic load and it is therefore necessary to reduce the extraneous load as much as possible by using techniques such as the study of programming examples. Germane cognitive load can then be applied by removing certain parts of the solutions to the examples and then requiring students to complete these part-complete solutions thereby encouraging schemata creation in long-term memory. A new software tool called CORT (Code Restructuring Tool) has been created which utilises this part-completion method.

Learning introductory software development is a difficult task and students often perceive programming subjects as requiring significantly more work than others. This paper describes a learning model for programming that has its basis in cognitive load theory. This theory suggests that there are three types of cognitive load that learners experience: intrinsic which is determined by the mental demands of the domain of knowledge; extraneous which is generated by the instructional format used in the teaching and learning process; and germane which can be utilised by learners to engage in conscious processing. The learning model is used as a basis, together with a particular instructional design framework, for the development of “COLORS (Cognitive Load Reduction System) for Programming”. COLORS is described together with a software tool, CORT (Code Restructuring Tool), that has been developed by the author to support various aspects of COLORS.

The purpose of this paper is to present a new software tool that has been developed, the purpose of which is to help novices learn programming. The tool supports what is know as the “completion” method of learning to program. It begins by discussing the difficulties that students face when learning to program and the use of part-complete solutions as a teaching and learning method. CORT has been developed to support this use of part-complete solutions and its features are outlined. When used by a student, a partcomplete solution to a given programming problem is displayed in one window and possible lines of code that can be used to complete the solution are displayed within another window. The lines can easily be moved between the windows in order to complete the solution, the solution then being transferred to the target programming environment for testing purposes. Preliminary feedback from students indicates that CORT is easy to use and perceived to be helping them in their learning of programming. Three different methods of using CORT have been identified and these will be the subject of future research.

In flexible, asynchronous e-learning environments, student-tutor interactions are usually by telephone, email or fax. In courses that utilise software in their teaching, many such interactions involve students requesting assistance from a tutor in connection with the use of that software to solve problems. Not only is it difficult for a student to explain a problem which they are having, but it is also difficult to respond to such a query without being able to "walk through" examples by using a white board or via the software which is being used within the course. There are now tools available that can improve such interactions by recording computer screen activity in some manner. Most tools also allow voice-over narratives to be recorded. This paper gives an overview of these tools, discusses how they can be used to provide better student-tutor dialogues and describes our experiences with a summer school course in which Lotus ScreenCam was used for such dialogues.

Personal knowledge management has been defined to be “A process and strategy for properly using the tools of technology for enhancing information, learning and inquiry skills” [1] and has been applied to student learning by using a model [2] based on that of Dorsey [3]. This paper extends that model to include interpersonal, small group knowledge management in an attempt to better reflect the way in which students are required to collaborate in their production of group projects. The model of small group knowledge management (SGKM) has then been implemented by using wikis and then utilized within an MBA unit in Information Systems Management. The students were required to work in groups to produce wiki portfolios of work and the groups also had to view and comment on other student groups' wiki portfolios. Data were collected from the students in an attempt to determine the usefulness of the model and technology utilized in the support of their learning, and the results from an initial analysis are reported.

In this paper we examine how to approach the question of information and site design in the use of wikis for student group assignments. The popular literature about Wikis proposes that they allow for “emergent, user-driven design”. We develop a model in order to analyse what approach to design might be appropriate in student group work. We gave one class of students a prescribed assignment layout with clear instructions regarding navigation menus and another group the same assignment with little or no guidance about how to design their site. Initial results show that prescribing the design increases perceptions of self-efficacy. Whilst self-efficacy is correlated with higher perceived quality of the site and with use of a greater range of wiki functions, there is no correlation with perceived usefulness of the wiki as a tool.

Advances in technology have made the use of digitized audio, often in the form of podcasts, more popular in recent years. The MP3 compression file format for such audio has become a defacto standard and the associated MP3 players are now ubiquitous. In the domain of eLearning, audio id perceived as a low-tech approach when compared with video technology. However such an approach can be useful as firstly, such audios can support mLearning as they can be listened to anywhere, and secondly, they are easy to produce for technology challenged instructors. This paper uses a teaching and learning framework as a basis for discussing how audio can support learning. It outlines some practical issues for instructors and students and provides suggestions for making the best use of audio. Some of the feedback obtained from online surveys that has been carried out with students at a university in Australia is utilised to support the discussion.

The paper examines the presence of knowledge-related wisdom in student assignments by applying the constructs of wisdom developed by researchers at the Max Plank Institute for Human Development in Berlin. They are factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, contextualisation, relativism, and uncertainty. Reciprocal instructor wisdom was operationalised as intellectual excellence, inter-personal skills and experience. The manifestations of wisdom were observed in the completion of a case study requiring students to analyse IT benefit management practices. The findings of the study indicated satisfactory to good levels of factual and procedural knowledge, high levels of relativism but low levels of contextualisation and dealing with uncertainty. Even though previous research has shown the presence of wisdom at an early age, the findings of this student-oriented study should be pleasantly surprising to most academics.

Learning to program is now a requirement in many courses of study in such areas as computer science, information technology, information systems, multimedia. engineering, and science. However, research indicates that many students have great difficulties in learning to program and this results in high failure rates and high levels of withdrawal from academic courses. It is accepted that programming is an intrinsically difficult subject however the teaching and learning methods used in many programming courses have changed little over the years. The literature indicates the importance of reducing the cognitive load that students experience when learning programming and that one method that has potential to do this uses part-complete program solutions. This study sought to explore a technology supported part-complete solution method (TSPCSM) for the learning of computer programming. A teaching and learning framework for programming was developed and a technology supported “COde Restucturing Tool” CORT, was then designed around the learning framework and developed to support the part-complete solution method and provide a suitable learning environment. A quasi-experimental research design framework was utilised in the study which used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. A series of programming problems was developed for CORT and an experiment was undertaken with students who were studying introductory programming. Experimental and control groups were utilised in the experiment which took place over a 14 week semester at an Australian university The data were analysed and they provided rich information concerning three research questions relating to the part-complete solution method (PCSM) through CORT: how students engaged with CORT; how CORT supported the learning process; and how CORT impacted upon their learning outcomes. Results from the study indicated that the PCSM within CORT imposed a low cognitive load on students; provided high levels of cogni