INT. J. NEW. INN.

, 2012, 1(2), 337-340

Review paper
ISSN:2277-4459

PLEASURES AND PRESSURES OF E-CONTENTS IN TEACHING Dr. K.Nachimuthu Dept. of Education, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu
Abstract: Teachers today need to be equipped not only with the latest subject expertise and effective pedagogic practices but also with the capability to assist students to meet the challenges of the present knowledge-based society. Building a practice-focused curriculum in teacher education requires specifying the content; what teachers need to learn to do- and unpacking it for learning. In a developing country like India, E-learning concept is an emerging opportunity to meet the educational desires of the millions of youth with universal quality educational materials. This paper explains the twenty five different websites of e-content facilities. This paper discusses the five objectives of e-content development by the UGC and explains the quality issues of e-content technology with its issues. The author also described the five important team members of e-content development team. This paper also concluded with eighteen different EMMRCs platforms for e-content development and the importance of sound, graphics and colour in e-content development. He recommended more number of e-contents can be developing through different Government organization as well as collaboration with NGOs. Through e-content methodology, bricks oriented lessons are changed into click oriented lessons. Keywords: e-content, Websites, Multimedia

1. Introduction Teaching is a complex and multidimensional process that requires deep knowledge and understanding in a wide range of areas and the ability to synthesize, integrate, and apply this knowledge in different situations, under varying conditions, and with a wide diversity of groups and individuals. Teachers today need to be equipped not only with the latest subject expertise and effective pedagogic practices but also with the capability to assist students to meet the challenges of the present knowledge-based society. The world is getting super hi-tech day by day. In every sphere the customary set-up is being challenged by the highly sophisticated systems. Their success rate depends however, on the approach of their utilization rather than mere installations of fancy gadgets. In many a circumstances, it is the wellbalanced, well- coordinated with combination of tradition and modernism that makes the perfect winning recipe. To keep pace with changing world, one cannot at large keep away from the quickly penetrating technology. On the other hand, technology alone is insufficient in providing the all in all solutions. As far as education is concerned, the traditional classroom teaching is being continuously under debate since the e-content learning classrooms have come into being. 2. Practice- focused curriculum Building a practice-focused curriculum in teacher education requires specifying the content; what teachers need to learn to do- and unpacking it for learning. It requires developing instructional

approaches to help teachers learn to do these things for particular purposes in context. Particularly challenging is how to design ways to teach practice that do not reduce it to propositional knowledge and beliefs. One of the e-content writers [1] presented a proposal for reform in teacher education that is more directly focused on learning a particular set of e-content methodology of instructional activities. NCTE (National Council of Teacher Education) and NAAC (National Accreditation and Assessment Council) have provided the standards for determining the quality of existing teacher qualifications and it has sought to raise the standards for professional practice through the technology oriented teaching skills. Access to information and knowledge is the mantra of the day. Technology is explained to be a problem solver and an entry point to increase access, efficiency, productivity, transparency, service and delivery. In the field of Higher Education, after the constant innovations and inventions, we envisage a silver lining in the form of ICT. It acts as a powerful access tool in the hands of academia to the information and knowledge warehouse. Though e-content learning classrooms are at its infancy, we foresee greater potential in it. 3. Digital content development In a developing country like India, E-learning concept is an emerging opportunity to meet the educational desires of the millions of youth with universal quality educational materials. Presently the web content is no longer with text matter but is stacked with audio visual media. Media software can be effectively used to produce e-learning

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NEW INNOVATIONS

INT. J. NEW. INN., 2012, 1(2), 337-340

Review paper

Nachimuthu

____________________________________________________________________________
course wares across all digital platforms-internet, intranet, mobile phones, mobile internet devices and on DVD. Information and Communication Technology sector includes traditional Telecommunications, Telephony, Fax, TV, Radio, Audio/video Cassettes, CD ROMs, Multimedia, Internet and Geographic Information Systems. Digitalization of content and knowledge makes the e-learning costeffective to replicate and dispense. This process is not to substitute a teacher but to supplement and enrich the knowledge of the teacher and the learner. It should meet the needs of the learners, user friendly and able to facilitate the self learning process. It should have high impact on learner retention, progression and achievement and relevant to the syllabus. [2] stated that there is a great deal of research to be conducted in determining efficient and cost-effective ways to conduct professional development activities that would support teachers as they continuously improve capacity to help their students become technologically literate. Professional development activities designed to help teachers infuse aspects of educational design into the e-content of digital level should be designed to promote team work and a state of engagement that will be rewarding to individuals. [3] The process of content development is equally important than the content itself. The content should be developed on the basis of present demand and not on the availability of technology. One of the key requirements for the design of learning content is the involvement of subject matter experts. 4. e-content availability in websites Now-a-days lots of e-content tools for teachers are available in websites. They can create educational activities, crosswords and quizzes for online practice, revision and testing. We can quickly create class pages, prepare printable activities, improve students results and check knowledge. They are as follows; a) Web browser: A web browser is a fundamental tool in the Toolbox; it is our window onto the web. Eg. Firefox and Google Chrome b) Social book marking tool: Store our books online, tag (i.e. categories) them and share them with others. Eg. Delicious and Diigo c) Blogging tool: Personal and professional blogging is now considered a mainstream activity. Eg.WordPress and Googles Blogger d) RSS / Feed Reader: Have the news or blog updates sent to us. Although modern day browsers let you read RSS feeds easily, a feed reader will let us manage all our subscriptions in one place. Eg: Google Reader and Bloglines Micro-blogging tool: We can communicate our contacts using up to 140 characters and keep up to date with what they are doing and what is happening in the world. Eg: Twitter and Tweetdeck. (6).Email: It is now a well-recognized and understood communication tool. Eg. Gmail and outlook express Instant messaging tool: Instant messaging is now a commonplace as email. Eg: Skype and SkypeIn Personal Productivity Tool: A personal productivity tool is one that lets us work more effectively and efficiently. Eg: Evernote and Google Calendar Mind mapping tool: It is great for organizing our thoughts or just brainstorming: Eg: FreeMind and Bubbl.us Presentation sharing tool: It is another fundamental tool for learning professional. Eg: PowerPoint, Prezi, Slideshare and Voicethread. On-line office suite: We need to work collaboratively on presentations documents or spreadsheets with our colleagues. Eg: Google Docs and Zoho Web conferencing tool: It provides a chat backchannel. Eg. Dimdim and Adobe Connect Course authoring tool: It includes number of tools available to creating interactive, multimedia online courses. Eg. Articulate ELearning Studio and Lectora Screen capture tool: We want to capture a screenshot or image for a learning resource. Eg. Snagit, and Jing Demo / screen casting tool: It can create a software demo or other screen-cast. Eg: Camtasia, Captivate Web authoring tool: It can used to build a web site: Eg. Dreamweaver and Google Sites Wiki tool: This tool is used to support collaborative working and learning. Eg.PBworks and Wikispaces Image / photo tools: An image is worth a thousand words and it creates professional picture collection. Eg. Flickr and Photoshop Audio / pod casting tools: It can create and listens to audio files and pod casts Eg. Audacity and iTunes Video tools: It is a very powerful medium for presenting information or instruction of all kinds through visuals. Eg. YouTube and Flip. Personal dashboard: It start pages allow us to aggregate all our digital resources - mail, RSS feeds, videos, etc - in one place. Eg. iGoogle and Netvibes

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NEW INNOVATIONS

INT. J. NEW. INN., 2012, 1(2), 337-340

Review paper

Nachimuthu

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v) Course management system: This manages learners and their use of any course content and it is the free, open source platform. Eg. Moodle w) Social networking tool: It creates a social network, for instance to provide the particular side of a learning programme. Eg. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Ning x) Integrated social media platform: the free, open source integrated social media platform brings together social networking, social book marking, blogging, wikis, RSS feeds, messaging and more in one platform. Eg. Elgg y) Tool Information & Tutorials: Full details of all the Tools in the Toolbox The above said websites, we understood the econtent is an evolving new medium which can be used as a tool for learning and teaching. The econtent programmes use different features which make the learning or teaching process effective and unique. The features include video/audio, text, quiz, case study, reference material, frequently asked questions (FAQs), etc, which help to teach the subject effectively. 5. UGC -Objectives of e-content development The objectives of the e-content development by the UGC (University Grants Commission of India) are a) Generation of e-content, in all subjects b) Development of teachers and experts resources in e-journal creation c) Distribution of the e-content to teachers and students from formal and non-formal; educational modes, for supplementing and complementing professional teaching and learning content d) Development of partnerships between educational institutions and the IT industry for the continuous development of new content and methodology taking into account contemporary technology. [4] 6. Quality issues & Assistance Proposals for the development of e-content can be submitted by any of the following persons to UGCa) Teachers, including retired teachers linked with colleges and universities, with experience in UG and PG education. b) Colleges or university departments. c) A college or university. The quality of e-content should be a) Technologically Friendly so as to be downloaded and used on any computer either independently or in a LAN situation. b) Learner Friendly for easy navigation. c) Learner Centric to be useful in selfinstructional mode. d) Teacher Friendly so as to be used in various teaching-learning methods such as classroom lectures, tutoring to a group, lab session etc. e) Learner Centric Pedagogy be employed. Specifically the designer of the e-content should pay attention to the teaching model used _ such as simple information communication, exploratory approach, discovery approach, mastery learning etc. f) Many types of interactive should be included to make learning effective and efficient g) Self-evaluation: The e-content should use plenty of evaluation material to give feedback to the learner as to his/her achievements in a topic of course. It should include formative as well as summative evaluation. h) Object Based Learning/ Teaching: The content should specifically state the objects of learning/teaching and should employ different strategies for skill, competency and functionality developments. The level of assistance to be provided will depend upon the magnitude of work to be done for the successful completion of the proposal. For the content measures mentioned above, the support to be provided will depend upon the proportion of assembled and created content. [5] 7. e-content development All e-content package developments need the following team members; a) Instructional Designer: (Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are the actual spices that add flavour, aroma and taste to electronic way of learning. The designer concentrates on the content and organizes its presentation in ways that meet the particular subject goals and purposes of the package. b) Interface designer: The designer organizes access of information and a clear, useable and attractive interface of the particular subject. c) Programmer: The duty of the programmer is to implement design. d) Audio video editor: The duty of the audio video editor is to edit the sound system (if any) and visuals of the package in such a way to ensure the effectiveness in accordance with the objectives of the instructional designer.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NEW INNOVATIONS

INT. J. NEW. INN., 2012, 1(2), 337-340

Review paper

Nachimuthu

____________________________________________________________________________
e) Project managers: To uplink the media package into the internet for every one access.[6] 8. Conclusion There are eighteen Educational Multimedia Research Centers (EMMRC) will work as Multimedia platforms to be utilized for the purpose of developing Multimedia Educational Programmes and e-content material to be telecast as well as hosted on CEC's website for the purpose of dissemination of knowledge to students and teachers [7].While preparing e-contents, not only subject matter; the graphics, colours and sounds are also will get major role of new impressions. Computer Graphics means visual computing, where we utilize our Personal computer to generate visual images synthetically. Additionally we can integrate visual information and spatial information sampled from the real world. Sound is a powerful film technique for many reasons. Colours can be used in a course support at the text level, at the illustration level and for background. A suitable combination of colours in the learning materials has proved to be as well an important element for developing creativity, memory, intelligence and imagination. Different colours have different effects some colours facilitate relief from tension and increase concentration, while others have a positive influence on the creation of mental associations, memorizing knowledge, etc. Sound can actively shape how we perceive and interpret the image. Sound cues our attention and leads to expectation. Hence, we the subject experts, we can combined to technical experts and to prepare lot of e-contents in teacher education field and to saturated the level for all subjects. Through e-content methodology, bricks oriented lessons are changed into click oriented lessons. So the teachers like us must improve ourselves to reach it. References [1] Vijayakumari,G (2007). Quality issues and Standards of E-Content, Journal of Educational Technology, I-manager Pub, Vol. 4, No.3, OctDec 2007, pp. 8-12. [2] Cajas,F.(2000).Technology education research: Potential directions. Journal of Technology Education, Vol. 12., No.1., pp. 75-85. [3] McCaslin,L. N., & Parks,D. (2002). Teacher education in career and technical education: Background and policy implications for the new millennium. Journal of Vocational Education Research, Vol. 27, No.1., pp. 69-108 [4] http://www. ugc.ac.in [5] Roblyer,M.D., & Wiencke,W. (2003). Design and use of a rubric to assess and encourage interactive qualities in distance courses, American Journal of Distance Education, Vol.17., No.2. [6] Nachimuthu, K. (2010). Usability of ELearning Resources in Teacher Education of India, International Journal of the Computer, The Internet Management, Bank honk, Thailand, Vol. 18. No. Spl., Dec, 2010. pp. 41(1) 41(6) [7] Anderson,T., Rourke,L., Garrison,D.R., Archer,W. (2001). Assessing teacher presence in a computer conferencing context, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Sept, 2001, Vol. 5., No.2.

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