Papers by Dr. Marina Vasileva Connell
ICT-ACT, Sep 12, 2012
Putting his Majesty computer into schools made tectonic shift of the central pillar in every clas... more Putting his Majesty computer into schools made tectonic shift of the central pillar in every classroom-the teacher. The threat became bigger with the use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter by the students, as a result of that these sites became forbidden in the schools. But when the students are already there, available in any time and place, why can't we try to direct these users for the benefits of innovative learning and to improve their motivation? The following text will try to investigate the possible answers of this question concerning the benefits from using Facebook and twitter in education as a media for communication between students and teacher. After reviewing the subject of research from the aspect of planned distance education or distance learning which will continue and after the end of the school year, desired data will be obtained. Using the WebQuest method will provide approach to learning from the source of the information distant from the students. Qualitative and quantitative indicators will be presented by the measurement of the achievements and by the students and teacher attitudes.
Journal of Information Technology Education: Research
Distance education learning environments provide tremendous convenience and flexibility, allowing... more Distance education learning environments provide tremendous convenience and flexibility, allowing busy, mobile adult learners to engage in education while coping with their limited resources in terms of time, energy and finances. Following a student-centered approach this study investigates adult students’ subjective perceptions while using distance education systems based on a videoconferencing platform as Quality of Experience (QoE). Based on a literature review, sociological behavior and expectations, we have constructed a structural equation model (SEM) illustrating relations among different variables that can predict positive levels of adult students’ QoE, thus providing guidelines for proper development. We have tested the model using a survey of 198 primary education school teachers involved in a videoconferencing-based learning program for teacher enhancement. Results show a good fit to the model developed. The analysis showed that adult students’ QoE is directly influenced ...
Critical Evaluation of Quality Criteria and Quality Instruments in OER Repositories for the Encouragement of Effective Teacher Engagement
The Open Education movement has gained substantial traction since the term Open Educational Resou... more The Open Education movement has gained substantial traction since the term Open Educational Resources (OER) was coined in 2000. However, there remains much scope for further advocacy and promotion of Open Education generally and of the principles and values that the concept embodies. Open Education is a broad canvas that is able to accommodate a range of understandings of the term. It is also a term that gathers an array of different elements beneath its umbrella, of which OER is one, although one that is much discussed. OERs are generally stored in a Learning Object Repository (LOR).
Critical Analysis of Online Teacher Communities
Croatian Journal of Education-Hrvatski Casopis za Odgoj i obrazovanje, 2018
Even though the potential of game-based learning is widely recognized, we need to understand stud... more Even though the potential of game-based learning is widely recognized, we need to understand students to effectively integrate games in the classroom environment. This study aims to identify relevant factors that influence students’ experience during the integration of traditional children’s games into the elementary school program. The research involved 142 students from different elementary schools who participated in multiple learning sessions with pure game-based activities or games technologically enhanced with asynchronous/synchronous distance learning. A structural equation model was developed and tested using students’ responses to a survey conducted after each session. The results suggest that students’ experience is directly influenced by their motivation to participate in the new environment, their attitude during purely game-based classes, and technological behaviour during classes with distance learning activities. We also found that students of different ages showed si...
PloS one, 2018
This study promotes a novel teaching approach for integration of children's traditional games... more This study promotes a novel teaching approach for integration of children's traditional games in elementary school program. It gives description of six traditional games and their educational prospects, implemented in six learning sessions in five elementary schools in Macedonia, involving 102 students. The comparison of learning achievements between these learning sessions and standard classes revealed increased students' learning performance on comparable topics. To understand the reason for improvement, we have surveyed students after each session and tested the gathered data set via the development of a structural equation model that examines the relationships between student's personality traits, motivation and experience with learning outcomes. The findings show that students' achievements were directly influenced by students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors, as well as perceived experience. Additionally, the integration of traditional games in...
The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 2014
Early identification of relevant factors that influence students’ experiences is vitally importan... more Early identification of relevant factors that influence students’ experiences is vitally important to the educational process since they play an important role in learning outcomes. The purpose of this study is to determine underlying constructs that predict high school students’ subjective experience and quality expectations during asynchronous and synchronous distance education activities, in a form of quality of experience (QoE). One hundred and fifty-eight students from different high schools participated in several asynchronous and synchronous learning sessions and provided relevant feedback with comparable opinions regarding different conditions. Structural equation modeling was used as an analytical procedure during data analysis which led to a QoE prediction model that identified relevant factors influencing students’ subjective QoE. The results demonstrated no significant difference related to students’ behavior and expectations during both distance education methods. Addit...
An ANFIS model of quality of experience prediction in education
Applied Soft Computing, 2015
ABSTRACT This paper presents a Quality of Experience (QoE) prediction model in a student-centered... more ABSTRACT This paper presents a Quality of Experience (QoE) prediction model in a student-centered blended learning environment, set up in appropriate technologically enriched classroom. The model uses ANFIS technique to infer the QoE from the individual subjective factors and the objective technical factors which altogether influence the perceived QoE. We explored the influence of subjective personality traits extroversion and neuroticism, as well as the learning style on QoE. The objective factors included in the model are technically measurable parameters latency, jitter, packet loss and bandwidth affecting Quality of Service (QoS) of the underlying technology. The findings presented in this paper are obtained from a case study which involved 8 teachers and 142 students from second and sixth grade in five primary schools in Republic of Macedonia. The teachers involved in the project introduced game-based learning strategies in classes, including on-line videoconferences, streamed video content and classical face to face gaming. We constructed three ANFIS systems with seven and four input variables and compared their performances using the RMSE, MAPE and R2 measurements. The results showed that perceived QoE can be reliably predicted by the student’s personality traits and learning style as subjective factors and network jitter as an objective factor.
This article presents a project entitled "Grandma's games", following a research idea to enrich t... more This article presents a project entitled "Grandma's games", following a research idea to enrich the educational process of K9 students by introducing the traditional children games of our ancestors in the learning environment, revived and adapted for modern students with the aid of information and communication technology. While creating a strong connection between our heritage and the modern educational trends, the project's intention goes beyond mere fulfilment of educational goals, striving to increase the interest and motivation of primary education students to develop their creativity and originality while learning, with respect of their own personal preferences and cultural heritage. The "Grandma's games" research project engaged twelve traditional games in the educational activities at primary schools from both rural and non-rural environments in Republic of Macedonia. Descriptive statistics was applied on the data set sampled from the extensive survey conducted among teachers in these schools, to illustrate the benefits from the application of the Grandma's games in educational process.
Grandma's games" is an educational case study that introduced few selected traditional games into... more Grandma's games" is an educational case study that introduced few selected traditional games into the regular education of K9 students, attempting to bring together the benefits of traditional outdoor games that our ancestors used to play and the modern technology that is closer to the present generations. The objectives of this project target the educational outcomes while having a strong consideration of the social and emotional aspects of students regarding motivation, joy, positive upbringing patterns and connection to the traditional values expressed in our folklore. We selected six traditional games and introduced three couples of them into the regular curricula of Math, Art and Nature/Society in few sixth grade classes. Each game was carefully selected aiming to improve certain aspect of the learning process with regard to the individual differences in personality, learning style and ability of each student. The games "Hop-scotch" and "Match Box" selected for Math classes were aiming to improve the student's logical reasoning, expressive skills were enhanced with the aid of "Lady" and "String" games on Art classes, and social skills were developed during the "Mosque" and "Hide and Seek" games on Nature/Society classes. The instructional design for this case study expressed in the teacher's manual included lesson plan, objectives to be accomplished, detailed description of the game to be used to accomplish certain objective, description of the roles of the teacher and the students, teacher's guidance to the learners, the expected feedback from the students, and instructions for performance assessment. The game based learning scenario encouraged active participation of all the students in the games, collaboration, and cooperative work on problem solving tasks given during and after the games, active participation of the students in the evaluation process, development of critical thinking, and praising the friendship during the joyful learning activities. While games were played in classical face to face manner, the use of technology was encouraged during the problem solving sessions, collaborative videoconferencing sessions with the peers from the other schools, and to facilitate communication with the peers from the distant parts of the country with aid of social networks. The effects of the selected games on educational outcomes were investigated using multiple criteria including evaluation of the academic performance and overall estimation of the transferable skills as communication, collaboration and interactivity. Our findings suggest that different games impact the learner's satisfaction, which in turn has significant impact on educational outcomes. The correlation between individual factors (personality; learning style) and experienced satisfaction with different games during the study reveals the importance of personalized approach in education for optimal learning results.
Teachers’Acceptance of the Smart Board in Primary Education Schools–Qoe Analysis
Impact of satisfaction, personality and learning style on educational outcomes in a blended learning environment
Learning and Individual Differences, 2015
ABSTRACT Several factors influencing the educational outcomes in a blended learning environment h... more ABSTRACT Several factors influencing the educational outcomes in a blended learning environment have been explored in attempt to predict student’s academic performance and transferable skills. This research explores personality traits, learning style, experienced satisfaction and their correlation to academic performance and transferable skills in a blended learning scenario that involved game-based learning strategies, flip teaching techniques and videoconferencing sessions. The students completed short-form Revised Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQR-S) and VARK learning style questionnaires at the beginning of the semester, and Satisfaction Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ) several times during the semester. At the end of the semester teachers evaluated the grades and skills of 142 K12 students that participated in the study in order to construct a prediction model and analyze the impact of the personality, learning style and satisfaction on educational outcomes. We employed ANFIS soft computing technique to build two models: ANFIS-ap to predict the grades and ANFIS-ts to predict the skills in the given learning setup. We also constructed appropriate linear regression models to compare the results with ANFIS models. The performance of the proposed systems were estimated using RMSE, MAPE and R2 measures. The ANFIS models explaining about 94% and 92% of variance in grades and skills outperformed the linear regression models explaining 81% and 69% of variance.
Journal of Information Technology Education: Research
Distance education learning environments provide tremendous convenience and flexibility, allowing... more Distance education learning environments provide tremendous convenience and flexibility, allowing busy, mobile adult learners to engage in education while coping with their limited resources in terms of time, energy and finances. Following a student-centered approach this study investigates adult students’ subjective perceptions while using distance education systems based on a videoconferencing platform as Quality of Experience (QoE). Based on a literature review, sociological behavior and expectations, we have constructed a structural equation model (SEM) illustrating relations among different variables that can predict positive levels of adult students’ QoE, thus providing guidelines for proper development. We have tested the model using a survey of 198 primary education school teachers involved in a videoconferencing-based learning program for teacher enhancement. Results show a good fit to the model developed. The analysis showed that adult students’ QoE is directly influenced ...
Digitized Children's Games from the Past in Function of the Realization of the Matematics Curriculum in Primary Education
Cultural development of the modern society, scientific technological and technical level today is... more Cultural development of the modern society, scientific technological and technical level today is a challenge for teachers, where they should respect the traditional didactic principles in the implementation of the teaching process, but, in the same time to think how to convert modern trends in skills of 21st century skills that will be appropriate to the content and organization of contemporary teaching. This paper analyzes the curriculum for mathematics First, Second and Third grade for nine years basic education in terms of the possibility of applying their performances within digitized children's games from the past, as future potential founding in learning through games. It is an innovative approach to the creative use of children's games last century and their digitization of modern ICT. As Kinekt and Xbox offer a way to respect the basic principles of didactic, to implement the same as Game Based Learning, where with physical activity offers students the option to dig...
Grandma's Games Project: Bridging Tradition and Technology Mediated Education
TEM Journal, Feb 1, 2014
This article presents a project entitled "Grandma’s games", following a research idea t... more This article presents a project entitled "Grandma’s games", following a research idea to enrich the educational process of K9 students by introducing the traditional children games of our ancestors in the learning environment, revived and adapted for modern students with the aid of information and communication technology. While creating a strong connection between our heritage and the modern educational trends, the project’s intention goes beyond mere fulfilment of educational goals, striving to increase the interest and motivation of primary education students to develop their creativity and originality while learning, with respect of their own personal preferences and cultural heritage. The "Grandma’s games" research project engaged twelve traditional games in the educational activities at primary schools from both rural and non-rural environments in Republic of Macedonia. Descriptive statistics was applied on the data set sampled from the extensive survey con...
– This article presents a project entitled "Grandma’s games", following a research idea... more – This article presents a project entitled "Grandma’s games", following a research idea to enrich the educational process of K9 students by introducing the traditional children games of our ancestors in the learning environment, revived and adapted for modern students with the aid of information and communication technology. While creating a strong connection between our heritage and the modern educational trends, the project’s intention goes beyond mere fulfilment of educational goals, striving to increase the interest and motivation of primary education students to develop their creativity and originality while learning, with respect of their own personal preferences and cultural heritage. The "Grandma’s games " research project engaged twelve traditional games in the educational activities at primary schools from both rural and non-rural environments in Republic of Macedonia. Descriptive statistics was applied on the data set sampled from the extensive survey ...
Critical Evaluation of Quality Criteria and Quality Instruments in OER Repositories for the Encouragement of Effective Teacher Engagement, 2020
The Open Education movement has gained substantial traction since the term
Open Educational Resou... more The Open Education movement has gained substantial traction since the term
Open Educational Resources (OER) was coined in 2000. However, there remains
much scope for further advocacy and promotion of Open Education generally and
of the principles and values that the concept embodies. Open Education is a broad
canvas that is able to accommodate a range of understandings of the term. It is
also a term that gathers an array of different elements beneath its umbrella, of
which OER is one, although one that is much discussed. OERs are generally stored
in a Learning Object Repository (LOR).
PLoS ONE 13 (8): e0202172, 2018
This study promotes a novel teaching approach for integration of children’s traditional games in ... more This study promotes a novel teaching approach for integration of children’s traditional games in elementary school program. It gives description of six traditional games and their educational prospects, implemented in six learning sessions in five elementary schools in Macedonia, involving 102 students. The comparison of learning achievements between these learning sessions and standard classes revealed increased students’ learning performance on comparable topics. To understand the reason for improvement, we have surveyed students after each session and tested the gathered data set via the development of a structural equation model that examines the relationships between student’s personality traits, motivation and experience with learning outcomes. The findings show that students’ achievements were directly influenced by students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors, as well as perceived experience. Additionally, the integration of traditional games in the elementary school classroom was equally accepted among all students, since their personality traits did not directly influence their experience or learning outcomes. Still, the link between the students’ personality dimensions and motivation revealed that introvert children might have slightly increased motivation and possibility to open up during game-play in such collaborative environments.
TEACHERS’ACCEPTANCE OF THE SMART BOARD IN PRIMARY EDUCATION SCHOOLS–QOE ANALYSIS
Croatian Journal of Education - Hrvatski časopis za odgoj i obrazovanje, 2018
Even though the potential of game-based learning is widely recognized, we need to understand stud... more Even though the potential of game-based learning is widely recognized, we need to understand students to effectively integrate games in the classroom environment. This study aims to identify relevant factors that influence students' experience during the integration of traditional children's games into the elementary school program. The research involved 142 students from different elementary schools who participated in multiple learning sessions with pure game-based activities or games technologically enhanced with asynchronous/synchronous distance learning. A structural equation model was developed and tested using students' responses to a survey conducted after each session. The results suggest that students' experience is directly influenced by their motivation to participate in the new environment, their attitude during purely game-based classes, and technological behaviour during classes with distance learning activities. We also found that students of different ages showed similar subjective experience and identified a clear distinction between students' views and learning outcomes during in-class gaming and asynchronous/ synchronous conditions.
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Papers by Dr. Marina Vasileva Connell
Open Educational Resources (OER) was coined in 2000. However, there remains
much scope for further advocacy and promotion of Open Education generally and
of the principles and values that the concept embodies. Open Education is a broad
canvas that is able to accommodate a range of understandings of the term. It is
also a term that gathers an array of different elements beneath its umbrella, of
which OER is one, although one that is much discussed. OERs are generally stored
in a Learning Object Repository (LOR).