INTRODUCTION
Rationale of the thesis
In the past, English lessons were normally taught through conventional classroom instruction, in which, most often than not, the teacher would be teaching in front of the classroom, while students were passive recipients of knowledge However, presently technology has had a great influence on the educational practices in the classrooms in which computer-based technology is very much in use to enhance instruction and transfer the focus from the teacher to the students in the learning process (Bork, 2001; Ertmer, Gopalakrishnan & Ross, 2001)
Incorporating technology in the classroom is beneficial to the students in a number of ways: assisting students‟ understanding of concepts, enhancing students‟ motivation in exploring, investigating, conjecturing, creating and discovering principles, and making generalization and connections (Wertherimer, 1990); engaging students involvement in the learning process (Guha, 2003) and motivating them
The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has brought the concept of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) into the classroom CAI is a kind of instruction that exploits computer software to assist teachers to teach information or skills related to a particular topic (Roblyer, 2004), and students can interact directly with lessons programmed into the computer system (Smaldino, Russell, Heinich & Molenda, 2005)
There are many types of software that teachers can use to develop their own teaching courseware
Studies demonstrate that the DynED software can be used to help improve students‟ achievement in English hence, to eradicate much English anxiety and fear of using computer software and learning English.
Aims of the thesis
The purpose of this study is to evaluate a courseware for the Business Communications course The courseware is specifically known as “Functioning in Business” It consists of additional information on the subject and quizzes to complement the Business Communications course The objective is the evaluation of the courseware by the students and that of the researcher on its strengths and weaknesses of the courseware The study is conducted primarily to find out the attitude of students towards the use of the Business Communications courseware as a supplementary teaching/learning material in HUBT.
Significance of the thesis
Many teachers often face problems and difficulties in teaching English namely due to shortage of instructional media, students‟ lack of understanding of the basic concepts of English, students‟ incomplete work and negative learning attitude Researchers have shown that students also tend to „find school much less interesting than the myriad of devices they carry in their pocket and backpacks‟ (Prensky, 2005) Thus, teachers need to find interesting strategies and tools to make teaching and learning more effective and interesting to the students
Practically, the findings of the thesis will be of great use not only to the researcher but also to the teachers who are teaching DynED software to students at HUBT Furthermore, the findings of the thesis will form a foundation toward improving the quality of the courseware which is currently in use for the students at HUBT.
Scope of the thesis
In courseware evaluation, there has been a great number of criteria that should be taken into consideration such as: the content, the organization and presentation, the design factors, the pedagogical parameter, and so on In this study, the researcher focuses on the following criteria: content, interactivity, screen design, navigation, feedback, students‟ learning and preference towards the courseware Due to the limited scope of a minor thesis, research subjects are primarily confined to English students who have been learning the courseware for 1 year However, to ensure the validity and reliability of the given information, teachers‟ views, which are collected in an informal way through their observation and experience in working/talking with students, is also taken into account
There are three main parts in this thesis: introduction, development, and conclusion
The introduction provides the rationale, the aims, the significance, the scope, and design of the thesis
The development consists of three chapters:
Chapter one presents a review of literature concentrating on the issues related to courseware evaluation It discusses the definition of courseware, the roles and types of courseware evaluation in language teaching and learning, and presents major issues in courseware evaluation including purposes for courseware evaluation, types of courseware evaluation, and courseware evaluation framework
Chapter two focuses on the methodology employed in this thesis including an overview of current English teaching and learning at HUBT, research methodology, and the data collection procedures
Chapter three discusses the findings of the study; points out the strengths, weaknesses of the courseware, and suggests the recommendations for the courseware improvement
The conclusion provides a brief summary of all the major parts being present in the study, the conclusions drawn out and suggestions for further research.
DEVELOPMENT
As technology improves, computers are becoming more and more common, and in an increasingly diverse number of applications Moreover, not only have computers become commonplace, they have also become indispensable Without the computer, for example, many recent scientific researches would not have been possible Furthermore, the demanding on high-speed communication and the immediate accessibility to information in different ways has fostered the advance for the development of computer technology
“These demands and technological advances have worked hand in hand to propel the art and science of multimedia to a new level, resulting in products that weave together text, graphics, animation, audio and video.” (Norton Peter, 2001: 419) Therefore, computer is considered as a tool to improve the quality of teaching technology Recently, the process of teaching with assistance of computer is known as Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)
The philosophy of CAI is that the lessons allow the learners to learn their own using structured and/or unstructured interactive lessons
The use of computer as a teaching media provides several advantages, as stated by Sudjana
& Rival (2009:137) They are: i) The role of computer will stimulate students’ motivation in learning process ii) Color, sound, and graphic increase the students’ impression of realism iii) Students’ individual responses in learning activities will produce long term memory
They also add that computer as teaching media provides audio and visualization which helps students to recognize, enrich, and clarify the concept of the learning materials they are learning
In line with them, Mc Donough, et al (1994:211) stated that there are several advantages by using computer as learning media, such as:
Literature Review
As technology improves, computers are becoming more and more common, and in an increasingly diverse number of applications Moreover, not only have computers become commonplace, they have also become indispensable Without the computer, for example, many recent scientific researches would not have been possible Furthermore, the demanding on high-speed communication and the immediate accessibility to information in different ways has fostered the advance for the development of computer technology
“These demands and technological advances have worked hand in hand to propel the art and science of multimedia to a new level, resulting in products that weave together text, graphics, animation, audio and video.” (Norton Peter, 2001: 419) Therefore, computer is considered as a tool to improve the quality of teaching technology Recently, the process of teaching with assistance of computer is known as Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)
The philosophy of CAI is that the lessons allow the learners to learn their own using structured and/or unstructured interactive lessons
The use of computer as a teaching media provides several advantages, as stated by Sudjana
& Rival (2009:137) They are: i) The role of computer will stimulate students’ motivation in learning process ii) Color, sound, and graphic increase the students’ impression of realism iii) Students’ individual responses in learning activities will produce long term memory
They also add that computer as teaching media provides audio and visualization which helps students to recognize, enrich, and clarify the concept of the learning materials they are learning
In line with them, Mc Donough, et al (1994:211) stated that there are several advantages by using computer as learning media, such as: i) Computer gives stimulus to the students’ learning process ii) Computer provides audio and visual effect which can catch students’ interest and attention iii) Computer helps to recall and rebuild the concept of previous material iv) Computer activates students’ responses v) Computer triggers interactive learning process, and computer also provides learning sources which are easy to be modified
However, besides those advantages, Sudjana & Rival (2009:138) also explain several constraints of the use of computer as learning media as follows:
- The program, especially for teaching goal, is still less developed if it is compared with other goal
- The digital software used is usually not flexible to be used in every computer by comparing with the benefit itself
- Because the role of human user is still strongly demanded, the teacher should have high-technology skill, at least to operate the system and program of the computer itself
The term „courseware‟ was introduced by “SCORE! Educational Centers”, the pioneering developer that coined the term by combining the words 'course' and 'software' It was originally used to term any computerized packages of teaching-learning material that instructors could supplement to the main lessons Criswell (1989) distinguishes between two different definitions of the term, asserting that, in a narrow sense, courseware refers to programs that administer instructions, and in a wider sense, in addition to such programs, it relates to all handbooks, performance aids and course materials A courseware is regarded in a wider sense as “any educational package including a number of lessons or courses appended with tests, teacher's/ learner's manuals and guidelines available online and/or on CDs and/or DVDs” (Mukundan & Nimehchisalem, 2008: 72)
According to Gueulette‟s view, an educator refers courseware as “the actual instruction involving both content and technique need in a CAI system; not to be confused with the software, the actual program that directs a computer’s operation.”(1982) Thus, there are many ways to define a courseware because the objective and applicability can vary from one situation to another
According to Haugland (1992), the type of courseware that brings impacts to students‟ computer experiences and even seems to determine whether they have developmental gains from these experiences Therefore, the courseware like any other resources must have a developmental approach to teaching and learning
It is very important to know whether the suitability of a particular courseware could meet the students‟ needs, its contribution to the students‟ performance and achievement, and it could act as a motivation tool
1.1.3 Roles of Teaching Courseware in General English Courses
Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) originates from Computer – Assisted Instruction (CAI) CALL means using computers to support language teaching and learning in some ways (Egbert, (2009)) The current philosophy of CALL puts a strong emphasis on students-centered material that allows learners to work on their own
Therefore, CALL is purposed to facilitate language learning by using technology of computer More specifically, Levy (1997) states that CALL is digital software tool which is designed to develop language learning and it also covers the application of the computer in language teaching and learning Moreover, Ihsanudin (2009:8) in his research states that
“CALL is not focused on technology but on language learning The word assisted indicates that technology only facilitates the language learning process A more accurate term for using technology in language learning might be language learning through technology reflecting the true position of language in such activity”
Soe (1998) says that there are three main roles of CALL in interacting with students:
Computer provides practice to strengthen the learning material, and gives feedback directly from the students‟ scores In this case, CALL plays a role as complement media in teaching-learning language process in classroom Moreover, this is very useful when teacher cannot interact with students individually
Computer provides some information; moreover explains some addition concept to students through practicing In this case, CALL plays a role as material providers which have been adjusted to each student‟s proficiency individually
In this case, students are more active in interacting with the computer Computer provides learning material, practice, and some feedback CALL in this role has been trusted as replacement enclosed traditional method which provides more effective
When considering possible approaches to educational evaluation, there are four general types that are described in the literature Evaluation of language teaching materials/CAL (computer assisted learning) is in fact intimately linked with the authoring and dissemination process Thus approaches to evaluation reflect either what the authoring process seems to be before evaluation is considered, or else what the evaluators think it ought to be in order to make evaluation useful Another way of putting this is that evaluation can be designed for different purposes or roles:
Formative evaluation: to help improve the design of the CAL
Summative evaluation: to help users choose which piece of CAL to use and for what
Illuminative evaluation: to uncover the important factors latent in a particular situation of use
Integrative evaluation: to help users make the most of a given piece of CAL
Research Methodology
Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) started applying DynED software in 2009 It combines face-to-face interactions and multimedia environments; specifically, it uses interactive multimedia courseware to revolutionise education The philosophy of the university is to develop a renaissance in its goals, content and method of teaching and learning All English courses offered by HUBT are divided into two components: face-to- face classes, and courseware as a supplementary teaching/learning tool The aim is to ensure that the students of the virtual university achieve mastery of knowledge and skills effectively
All students are given their own accounts to learn the courseware This works as a supplementary material for a course The idea of using the multimedia courseware is commendable as it is considered an interactive multimedia tool that may help the students understand the course better, especially when they are studying on their own
“Functioning in Business” was chosen as it had been believed to meet the course objectives by the Faculty for Overseas Study Because most of students‟ majors were business, finance and economics; this courseware aimed to provide them with knowledge relating business communication In fact, this courseware focused mainly on reading, listening and speaking skills, therefore, the teachers had to design more writing tasks after learning in computers to help students improve their writing skills The basic reason why
“Functioning in Business” had been used is that the courseware is attractive, dynamic, interactive and effective, since it can combine still and moving pictures, and audio with text graphics Beside, the content and topics in “Functioning in Business” are closely related to their majors
As mentioned earlier, the aims of this study are to answer the two following research questions:
1 To what extent does the courseware “Functioning in Business” satisfy the requirements of the course provided at HUBT in terms of:
2 What improvements should be made to the courseware to meet the course requirements and students‟ need?
This research and development project was descriptive in nature and adopted a quantitative method Since the study was not concerned about improvements in students‟ performance before and after using a particular “Functioning in Business” courseware, an experimental research design was not enforced in the study
The research instrument consisted of a questionnaire All the items in the instrument were carefully constructed so as to be in line with the purpose of the study They were divided into seven parts, namely, content, interactivity, navigation, feedback, screen design, students‟ learning and students‟ preference towards the use of an interactive multimedia in learning English The Likert scale was used in the questionnaire, namely, 1 as Strongly Disagree, 2 as Disagree, 3 as Somewhat Agree, 4 as Agree and 5 as Strongly Agree
The participants were students from three classes: K7.1; K7.2; U3 They have been using the courseware entitled “Functioning in Business” developed for the Business Communications course The survey consisted of 100 students, 72 females and 28 males
Their ages ranged from 18-20 and all of them had not taken the course before
Reliability survey was also conducted Part I of the questionnaire was related to the content of the “Functioning in Business” courseware This part consisted of 10 items Part II of the questionnaire was related to interactivity This part consisted of 06 items There were 12 items in Part III of the questionnaire that was related to navigation Part IV in the questionnaire was related to feedback and consisted of seven items Part V in the questionnaire was related to the screen design of the DynED courseware and consisted of
18 items with the Part VI included students‟ learning and Part VII showed students‟ preference towards the use of an interactive multimedia courseware This part consisted of seven items
This chapter has provided an overview of the current English teaching and learning context at HUBT The participants involved in this research were second year students of the Faculty for Overseas Study who had been learning the courseware “Functioning in Business” for one year Besides, questionnaire, institutional document analysis, and material analysis being primarily based on three criteria: content, interactivity, navigation, screen design, feedback, students‟ learning and preference were employed as major research instruments to seek answers to the two research questions.
Data Analysis and Discussion
There were 100 students participated in the actual study Since the study was not mainly concerned about improvements in students‟ performance before and after using a particular DynED courseware, no control or experimental group was assigned Therefore, all 100 students were distributed a questionnaire, no time limit was imposed on their response
3.1 Results of the content in “Functioning in Business” courseware
1 The content is reliable and suitable 0 5 15 40 40
2 The distribution of macro-skills (listening, writing, reading and speaking) are equal
3 The distribution of micro-skills (skimming, scanning, guessing, completing sentences…) are equal
5 Concepts and vocabulary relevant to learners‟ abilities 7 6 7 65 15
7 Topics in the courseware are related to business communication 0 0 0 100 0
8 Variety of activities, with options for increasing complexity 2 36 7 42 13
9 The structure allows learners to move around freely in different units
10 The structure of the multimedia courseware permits learners to advance, review, see examples, repeat the unit or escape to explore another unit
Note: Strongly Disagree (1); Disagree (2); Somewhat Agree (3); Agree(4); StronglyAgree (5) Table 1: Analysis on the Content in the “Functioning in Business” Courseware
From the Table 1, one can see that most of the students agreed that the content of this courseware was suitable for the learning of “Functioning in Business” 65% of the students liked the content of this courseware mainly because the courseware allowed them to move freely and 72 students were able to repeat the same lesson as many times as they wanted
(item 10) DynED software that allows students to repeat lessons and help them improve their listening and speaking skills can focus on mastery in a learning environment
Students also showed satisfaction with the courseware's amount of content and suitability
Most of them agreed to items 1-10 40% strongly agreed that the content was reliable and suitable for the course objective because students could be able to communicate daily business situation after completing this courseware
With regard to macro- skills, there was a priority to listening skills As it could be seen from table 1, 75% disagreed that the distribution of macro-skills was equal The reason is because this courseware mainly focused on listening and speaking while grammar and writing were not satisfactory to students‟ needs However, the evaluator found that students were not interested in speaking tasks in the courseware because they had to repeat the speakers‟ voice a lot and no chance to practise in the real situation Therefore, teachers themselves had to design tasks of speaking for students
Besides, when being asked to give opinions about each of the given micro- skills, 60% of the students thought that the courseware helped students develop reading sub-skills such as guessing, skimming, and scanning This might be because students were at low intermediate level; these sub- skills helped them become more effective readers However, for writing, some of them shared the opinion that the courseware helped develop some techniques of completing sentences, building sentences, transforming sentences but not mentioning to write a paragraph or an essay
Although the courseware doesn‟t have a separate section for grammar, 90% of the students believed that the item “correct use of grammar” Only 10% was undecided since they were lacked of grammar knowledge The vocabulary in this courseware were relating to the business knowledge, therefore, 65% of the students found that they were relevant to their ability To explain that, the students felt the vocabulary were quite difficult for them to understand
For topics, 50% of the students agreed that there was a logical progression of topics while 26% could not articulate their choice The item which spoke of the “topic is related to the business communication” was favoured by 100 students (100%) because they confirmed that all episodes in the courseware “Functioning in Business” were covered a relationship between Blake and Epstein in order to get an agreement in their business
3.2 Results of the Interactivity in “Functioning in Business” courseware
9 The interactivity of this courseware is according to the maturity of the students
10 This courseware provides opportunities for interaction with standardized icons
11 The content is divided into small segments and includes examples and summaries for each segment
12 This courseware frequently poses questions to the users that do not interrupt the learning process
13 This courseware asks students to apply what they have learnt rather than memorises it
14 This courseware allows learners to discover information through active exploration
Note: Strongly Disagree (1); Disagree (2); Somewhat Agree (3); Agree (4); Strongly Agree (5) Table 2: Analysis on the Interactivity of the “Functioning in Business” Courseware
Analysis shows that most of the students agreed that this courseware was interactive mainly because the courseware was designed and developed based on an interactive, dynamic and effective concept Multimedia resources can be used to develop active learning by allowing the user to be an active learner (Baharuddin Aris, 1999) It is also obvious from the study that students liked to use the courseware to discover information and learn actively The interactive nature of multimedia courseware is considered to be its most important learning feature and enables students to achieve topic goals and to receive meaningful intrinsic feedback
It could be seen that most students were not sure about item 9 namely “interactivity is according to the maturity of the students” This could be because they lacked the knowledge on computer and English; they couldn‟t find the most suitable courseware to them Most of the students agreed with item 12 which indicated that the courseware posed questions to the users without interrupting the learning process Generally, the students agreed that the courseware provided opportunities for interaction with standardized icons
However, more than half of the students (63%) disagreed that the courseware asked students to apply what they had learnt rather than memorised it This is because students had to repeat sentences after listening and they didn‟t have enough time to practise
3.3 Results of the Navigation of “Functioning in Business” courseware
15 Answer key to answer a question 0 0 0 100 0
16 Glossary key to see the definition of any term 20 24 19 34 3
17 Objective key to review course objectives 4 16 24 32 24
18 Summary and review key to review the entire lesson or parts of it
19 Menu key to return to the main page 0 2 12 65 21
20 Exit key to exit from the programme 0 0 0 100 0
21 Comment key to record a learner's comments 5 6 32 38 19
22 Example key to see examples of an idea 2 3 12 64 19
23 Key for moving forward or backward in a lesson 0 2 3 75 20
24 Key for accessing the next lesson in a sequence 4 5 14 47 30
Note: Strongly Disagree (1); Disagree (2); Somewhat Agree (3); Agree (4); Strongly Agree (5)
Table 3: Analysis on the Navigation of the Courseware
The data from Table 3 shows that the respondents agreed that the navigational assistance of the multimedia courseware was functional The amount of navigational assistance needed depended on the size of the knowledge base; the usefulness of the aids that were already part of the authoring software, and the types of links the software allowed Students who navigated in hypermedia courseware enjoyed convenience and flexibility but different navigation patterns might be attributable to different courseware structures It could be interpreted that this courseware was lacked of glossary, summary and the students‟ comment key
It could be seen from Table 3 that the navigation was extremely helpful when learning this courseware 100% of the students agreed that “answer key is to answer a question” and
“exit key to exit from the programme” It was easy to understand why they chose that, because they often used these keys during learning and doing exercises 64% agreed that or backward in a lesson” Three items, 16, 17, 21, received high “undecided” evaluations because they wondered whether these keys existed or not However, there was no need for concern because these items also had 34%, 32% and 38% of the students agreeing with them, this indicated that these keys were appropriate and favourable to them Good navigation items enabled students to succeed in the process of learning and thus, from the findings of the students' evaluation, the navigation items could bring about changes in the students, especially their determination to succeed in the learning of Business Communications
3.4 Results of the Feedback in “Functioning in Business” courseware
25 This courseware provides feedback immediately after a response
26 The placement of feedback is varied according to the level of objectives
27 This courseware provides feedback to verify the correctness of a response
28 Feedback is enough and consistent 11 13 8 44 24
29 Feedback is related to correct answer 2 10 6 62 20
31 The lecturer knows how I do in the quizzes 7 8 9 36 27
32 For incorrect responses, information is given to the student about how to correct their answers or hints to try again
33 This courseware allows students to print out their feedback 3 12 8 50 27
34 This courseware allows students to check their performance 12 46 9 23 10
35 There are enough questions for students to practice 14 75 5 3 3
Note: Strongly Disagree (1); Disagree (2); Somewhat Agree (3); Agree (4); Strongly Agree (5) Table 4 The analysis of the feedback of the “Functioning in Business” courseware
Interestingly, 65% of the students agreed that this multimedia courseware provided feedback immediately after a response, and 50% of them found that enabling the correctness of a response was verified, thus allowing the students to check print out their performance To some extent, however, they hoped that the courseware could provide them with a more in-depth feedback to answers It was obvious that students needed more guidance about how to correct their answers or hints on how to try again This kind of feedback was not provided in the courseware So, 95% of the students were not sure about their choice
Elissavet, et al (2003) stressed that simple answers such as right or wrong cannot provide any information about how learners should correct their performance A more helpful form of extrinsic feedback would give the learner information about how to adapt and correct their performance; such feedback would include responses accompanied by explanations
While the popular choice of items from 25 to 34 was “Agree”, item 35 was greatly evaluated as “Strongly disagree” The items focused on statements about feedback being enough consistent, related to correct answers, whether the lecturer knew the students‟ marks and whether the marks were recorded 46% of the students disagreed with item 35 which stated that there were enough questions for them to practise on Although most students agreed that feedback was enough and consistent (44%), related to the correct answers (62%), recorded marks were given (40%) and that the lecturer knew how the students did in the quizzes (36%), the responses to item 34 strongly indicated that a large number of students wanted to be given more questions so that they could use them to improve their knowledge Thus the feedback given appeared to be appropriately set and used but it was inadequate To make the courseware a better supplementary tool, there should be additional questions for the students to use as practice If not, lecturer should provide more guidance in face-to-face classes and online tutorials
3.5 Results of the Screen Design in “Functioning in Business” courseware
CONCLUSION
An evaluation for “Functioning in Business” courseware that is designed according to an evaluation framework developed from the integration of a number of important issues emerged from research on instructional design and system evaluation the past fifteen years and is concerned with both social and practical acceptability of hypermedia courseware
The items are included in the instrument that has the form of a suitability scale questionnaire that is concerned with the evaluation of seven main sectors: a) content, b) interactivity c) navigation d) screen design e) feedback f) students‟ learning and finally, f) students‟ reference
In general, the responses to items 1 to 69 (Tables 1-7) indicated that most students agreed that the instructional content and design were effectively used in “Functioning in Business” courseware Apart from some minor needs for improvement which had been identified in the respective sections, the instructional design was evaluated as effective as supplementary material
Nevertheless, more content per objective and more examples per unit of content could be given as indicated by the students When students are given more examples and adequate content, a courseware will cater for individual learner differences The better students may choose what they want to use and discard what they do not need while the weaker ones can go through the material extensively Menis, Synder and Benkohav (1980) said that instructions should accommodate individual learner differences and the provision of enough opportunities is important
Although most of the students agreed that the courseware attracted their attention, some of them did not think like that Being students ranging from 18-20 years of age, a great amount of guidance was needed and the presentation of features should draw their attention Although the courseware was academic in nature, the insertion of exciting features could enhance the learning of the students What the producer of the courseware could do in the future would be to provide more practice items or inform the users that they should seek extra guidance from the lecturers or reference books When a courseware provides sufficient and varied opportunities for the learners, they will learn effectively because the infusion of all features as well as enough practice items will promote better teaching and learning
The study shows the importance of summative evaluations on instructional materials introduced at HUBT Although the courseware on the Business Communications course which was studied had been developed following theoretical steps, principles and procedures, minor weaknesses were discovered It is evident from this study that the learners‟ responses to the courseware as a supplementary material indicated overwhelmingly positive ratings Findings from this study, if combined with other studies, would help support the use of different types of courseware as supplementary materials at the university Although this evaluation was undertaken at the students‟ level, more research can be done to elicit the responses and views of lecturers and experts (Dick and Carey, 1991) Generally, the instructional design is effectively used in the Business Communications courseware as a supplementary material
Institutions of higher education need to consider whether they are ready to meet growing learner demands in the coming years First of all, most respondents agreed that hypermedia learning would have greater significance in higher education in the future Although some institutions have already embraced blended learning, many others are slower at adopting it for various reasons Perhaps leadership from the institution is crucial for faculty to receive adequate support to implement changes in the teaching process
If the quality of software education is to improve as projected from this study, campuses must also look at the pedagogical issues in software learning Collaboration and case learning are likely to be the preferred methods of software instructors, with few relying solely on traditional methods The data presented here also indicate that the continued explosion in software learning will bring increased attention to workshops, courses, and degree programs in how to moderate or mentor with hypermedia learning Given that many respondents expect to receive some sort of training and support from their institutions to be ready for hypermedia teaching, colleges and universities need to consider how they will respond to these needs
In addition, the study indicates that universities are finally focusing on how hypermedia learning can develop students‟ collaboration and evaluation skills In fact, most educators now see the potential of the software in the coming years as a tool for virtual teaming or collaboration, critical thinking, and enhanced student engagement, though not necessarily as a tool for creative and individual expression Does current courseware provide tools to realize the potentials for innovative teaching and learning? Perhaps recent developments in open source courseware will force DynED vendors to develop and market more pedagogically engaging tools and resources
This survey also forecasts enormous growth in software certification and recertification programs, as well as some growth in associate's and master's degree programs during the coming decade In terms of technology, the study reveals interest among software instructors in modern technologies, simulations, and reusable content objects Perhaps we are entering a world where learning objects will be at our fingertips However, the university has to equip good-conditioned computers so that students can achieve their best goals In addition, the courseware needs improving better to meet the students‟ demand and satisfy their learning motivation
Due to the limited scope of a minor thesis, questionnaire has been used as a principal instrument to collect data Also, the research subjects are confined to students who have been involved with learning the courseware rather than to teachers who have taught this courseware Therefore, evaluation on the part of teachers is not thoroughly discussed In short, the findings and discussion would have been more comprehensive and insightful if the study had used more instruments for data collection and if the study had involved teachers in the evaluation process This, without doubt, would have added more weight to the findings and recommendations for further improvements of the courseware in particular and the teaching/ learning of English at HUBT in general
Suggestions are directed to English teachers and future researchers DynED can be implemented as an alternative method in improving students‟ English proficiencies It is because DynED makes students comprehend language faster and easier than using traditional method Moreover, DynED makes students experience interactive experiment, which previously seemed hard or impossible, such as interacting with a native speaker
Besides, DynED also improve students‟ motivation in learning English Yet, the teachers are suggested to have technical competence in implementing CALL in order to build effective and directed teaching-learning process The program used in implementing CALL not only DynED, it can be other program The most important thing which was selected in the program is it must be suitable with the students‟ needs
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This questionnaire is designed to collect attitude of non-major English students of HUBT on the current English courseware “ Functioning in Business ” in DynED software
Please answer the following questions carefully based on your own experience in learning the courseware Your responses would be very valuable to the evaluation research and the improvement of the courseware for future use
Your cooperation, therefore, is highly appreciated
Read the following statements and TICK (v) them from 1 to 5 where
5 Strongly Agree Α Evaluation of the content
1 The content is reliable and suitable
2 The distribution of macro-skills (listening, writing, reading and speaking) are equal
3 The distribution of micro-skills (skimming, scanning, guessing, completing sentences…) are equal
5 Concepts and vocabulary relevant to learners‟ abilities
7 Topics in the courseware are related to business communication
8 Variety of activities, with options for increasing complexity
9 The structure allows learners to move around freely in different units
10 The structure of courseware permits learners to advance, review, see examples, repeats the unit or escape to explore another unit Β2 Design Factors Β.2.1 Interactivity – Navigation - Feedback Β.2.1.1 Interactivity
9 The interactivity of this courseware is according to the maturity of the students
10 This courseware provides opportunities for interaction with standardized icons
11 The content is divided into small segments and includes examples and summaries for each segment
12 This courseware frequently poses questions to the users that do not interrupt the learning process
13 This courseware asks students to apply what they have learnt rather than memorises it
14 This courseware allows learners to discover information through active exploration Β.2.1.2 Navigation
15 Answer key to answer a question
16 Glossary key to see the definition of any term
17 Objective key to review course objectives
18 Summary and review key to review the entire lesson or parts of it
19 Menu key to return to the main page
20 Exit key to exit from the programme
21 Comment key to record a learner's comments
22 Example key to see examples of an idea
23 Key for moving forward or backward in a lesson
24 Key for accessing the next lesson in a sequence Β.2.1.3 Feedback
25 This courseware provides feedback immediately after a response
26 The placement of feedback is varied according to the level of objectives
27 This courseware provides feedback to verify the correctness of a response
28 Feedback is enough and consistent
29 Feedback is related to correct answer
31 The lecturer knows how I do in the quizzes
32 For incorrect responses, information is given to the student about how to correct their answers or hints to try again
33 This courseware allows students to print out their feedback
34 This courseware allows students to check their performance
35 There are enough questions for students to practice Β.2.2 Screen Design
36 Screens designed in a clear and understandable manner
37 The presentation of information can captivate the attention of students
38 The presentation of information can stimulate recall
39 The use of space is according to the principles of screen design
40 The design uses proper fonts in terms of style and size
41 The use of text follows the principles of readability
42 The colour of the text follows the principles of readability
43 The number of colours in each screen is no more than six
44 There is consistency in the functional use of colours
45 The quality of the text, images, graphics and video is good
46 Presented pictures are relevant to the information included in the text
47 The use of graphics meaningfully supports the text provided
48 There is only one moving image
49 The video enhances the presentation of information
50 The sound is of good quality and enhances the presentation of information
51 The sound is an alternative means of presenting information and not a necessity
52 The integration of presentation means is well coordinated
53 The courseware is easy to learn; the user can quickly get some work done with it
54 The courseware is efficient to use; once the user has learnt it, a high level of productivity is possible
55 The courseware is easy to remember; the casual user is able to return to using it after some period without having to learn everything all over
56 The structure of the courseware is comprehensive and the average performance learners can easily follow it
57 Learners do not make many errors during the use of the courseware or if they do so they can easily recover them
58 Learners are subjectively satisfied by using the courseware
59 Learners find the courseware is suitable for the people with self-consciousness
60 After listening to the sentences in the courseware, learners can repeat it
61 Learners find the courseware interesting
62 Learners find the role of teachers very important when using the courseware.