THE IMPLEMENTATION OF E-LEARNING STRATEGY IN GROUP DISCUSSION USING NICENET.ORG TOWARD INTERNATIONAL CLASS PROGRAM BATCH 2012 STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY A GRADUATING PAPER Submitted to the Board of Examiners as a Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF E-LEARNING
STRATEGY IN GROUP DISCUSSION USING
NICENET.ORG TOWARD INTERNATIONAL
CLASS PROGRAM BATCH 2012
STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY
A GRADUATING PAPER
Submitted to the Board of Examiners as a Partial Fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan Islam
(S.Pd.I) English Education Department of Teacher Training and
Education Faculty State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN)
Salatiga
Written By:
Fuad Abdul Majid
113 11 122
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTEMENT
TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL FACULTY
STATE INSTITUTE FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES (IAIN)
SALATIGA
2015
The more you give, the more you will get”
(KH. Abdullah Syukri Zarkasyi, M.A )
DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this graduating paper for everyone special for me and for my life, they are:
1. Allah SWT, The Almighty God for my talents and many perfect things having been blessed. Allah who always accompany my action anywhere
2. My beloved Parents (Mr. Darmono & Mrs. Endah Sutanti) you are the best parent I ever had. You are the spring of my power, thank you for your prays, sacrifices, advices, and honest love.
3. My beloved Grandmother (Mrs. Sri Marinah) 4.
My dearest brother (Mr. Arif Eko Susanto) 5. My inspiring lecturer (Mr. Hammam) thank you for your motivation, and your spirit.
6. All of members of International Class Program.
7. My best friend of ICP 2011, who cannot mentioned one by one.
ABSTRACT
Majid, Fuad Abdul. 2015. The Implementation of E-learning Strategy in Group
Discussion Using Nicenet.org toward International Class Program batch 2012
Students’ Writing Ability. Skripsi, English Department of Teacher Training and
Educational Faculty, State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Salatiga. Ari Setiawan, S.Pd, M.M
The objective of this research is to know the implementation of e-learning in group discussion using nicenet.org toward International Class Program batch 2012 students’ writing ability.
This research is use the method of a descriptive qualitative research which
th th
is conducted on July 25 to August 10 2015. The respondent of this research were the students of English Education Department of International Class Program batch 2012 IAIN Salatiga which consist of eight students. The technique of collecting data is through observation, structured interview, and documentation. Structured interview used to know the students’ opinion about nicenet.org. Observation used to know the profile of students’ writing. The technique of analyzing data is descriptive analysis. The technique to check data validity is triangulation.
The results of this research showed that most of International Class Program batch 2012 students have a good writing ability. The implementation of nicenet.org in online group discussion is run well as long there is an internet connection. Student have some difficulties when using e-learning such as, the limitation of network connection area and less interaction and communication each other.
Keyword: E-learning, Nicenet.org. Group Discussion. Writing Ability
TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE ............................................................................................................... i DECLARATION PAGE .................................................................................... ii ATTENTIVE COUNSELOR ........................................................................... iii STATEMENT OF CERTIFICATION .............................................................. iv MOTTO ............................................................................................................. v DEDICATION ................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENT .................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... ix TABEL OF CONTENT ..................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURE ............................................................................................. xiii LIST OF TABLE .............................................................................................. xiv LIST OF CHART ............................................................................................. xv
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. The Background of the Study .......................................................... 1 B. Statement of the problem ................................................................ 3 C. Research Purposes ........................................................................... 4 D. The Benefit of the Study ................................................................. 4 E. Definition of Key Term .................................................................. 5 F. Thesis Organization ........................................................................ 6 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES A. Previous Research ............................................................................ 8 B. Literature Review ............................................................................ 10 1. Writing ...................................................................................... 10 a. The Definition of Writing ................................................... 10 b. The Types of Writing .......................................................... 11 c. The Purposes of Writing ..................................................... 12
d.
The Steps of Writing ........................................................... 14 e. The Requisite of a Good Writing ........................................ 16 2. Group Discussion ...................................................................... 17 a.
The Term of Discussion ...................................................... 17 b.
The Kind of Discussion ...................................................... 18 c. The Type of Discussion ...................................................... 18 d.
The Advantage of Discussion ............................................. 18 e. Online Discussion ............................................................... 20 3. E-learning .................................................................................. 21 a.
Definition ............................................................................ 21 b.
The Purpose of E-learning .................................................. 22 c. E-learning Approaches ........................................................ 23 d.
The Types of E-learning ..................................................... 23 e. Elements of a Good E-learning ........................................... 24 4. Nicenet.org ................................................................................ 25 a.
Definition of Nicenet.org .................................................... 25 b.
Organization Profile ............................................................ 26 c. Practical Application ........................................................... 26 d.
Web Organization ............................................................... 28
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Research Methodology .................................................................... 32 B. Research Design ............................................................................... 32 C. Research Subject .............................................................................. 33 D. Technique of Data Collection ......................................................... 33 E. Evaluation Criteria .......................................................................... 36 F. Technique of Analyzing Data ......................................................... 36 G. Setting of Research ......................................................................... 37 H. Profile of Institution ........................................................................ 38 I. Profile of International Class Program ............................................ 40 J. Participant of Research ................................................................... 43
CHAPTER IV DISCUSSION A. The Respondents’ Writing .............................................................. 44 B. Interview Result .............................................................................. 59 CHAPTER V CLOSURE A. Conclusions ...................................................................................... 69 B. Suggestion ....................................................................................... 70 BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIXES
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 2.1 Process Wheel .................................................................................. 16Figure 2.2 Nicenet.org Main Page .................................................................... 28Figure 2.3 Menu Setting Page ........................................................................... 29Figure 2.4 Confirmation Page ........................................................................... 29Figure 2.5 Log in Page ...................................................................................... 30Figure 2.6 Main Page ........................................................................................ 31LIST OF TABLE
Table 3.1 Faculties ............................................................................................ 39Table 3.2 Programs ........................................................................................... 40Table 3.3 Member of International Class Program 2012 .................................. 41Table 3.4 The Participant of Research .............................................................. 43LIST OF CHART Chart 4.1 Students’ Writing Profile .................................................................. 58
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. BACKGROUND OF STUDY Writing is one of four the skills that have to mastered in learning English language and it requires special attention, as it is a productive language process. It is the process of transforming the thoughts and ideas into written form and
every people can develop the writing skill by some exercises. According to Gelb (1951) writing is the way how man communicate his thoughts and feelings by means of visible signs, understandable not only to himself but also to all other persons more or less initiated into the particular system. Al-Quran also devoted a great emphasizes about writing where Allah stated in Holy Quran:
4. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen [the first person to write was Prophet Idrees (Enoch)],
5. Has taught man that which he knew not. (Q.S Al- ‘Alaq verse 4-5)
The meaning of the word here is the pen which is used to
" لمقلا "
write sentences, and from those verses we know that Allah has ordered us using the pen to teach others what we have known. And Allah suggested to record the knowledge by writing. It is why writing is a productive skill that student should mastered in language learning.
In order to achieve that goal we need an effective learning where the learning use an appropriate learning strategy containing of deciding the steps of learning, an appropriate tool and media, the clear material and the good method will be used during the learning process in the class.
Media become one of the element to success the goal of learning. According to Gagne (1970) as quoted in Sadiman, Media is a various kinds of components which support the student to learn. And also Briggs (1970) stated that media is every single tool that provide a message and stimulate students to learn, e.g book, movie, cassette, etc.
In this modern era, the development of media include the information and communication technology is very significant, with this development people are expected that it will bring a new innovation and a positive impact to educational system. The information and communication technology bring a great innovation for education development in the world. Thus, the educational methods have brought many changes, even in personal learning method, interpersonal and intrapersonal. One of the developments on information technology applied in educational system usually called by E-learning.
E-learning is the new innovation that has a big contribution toward educational process. In which, students are not only l istening to teacher’s explanation, but they are also doing another activity such as, observing teacher’s explanation, acting and demonstrating the material. If the teachers could not attend the class, they can send material and assignments to students through the website, and the students can find the assignments and materials online.
Many e-learning were applied in teaching and learning process. One of them is Nicenet.org. Nicenet.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free services to the Internet community. It is a free web-based learning environment for classrooms, distance learning programs and collaborative academic projects.
Moreover, there are many advantages of using Nicenet.org.org in teaching and learning activity, such as, students are feel free and comfortable to express their opinion into written form. And also with this website students can learn to help others’ writing and accepting friend’s correction.
In addition, with Nicenet.org teacher can send an article and the student can give some comments and the other student may give a comment from the original text or friend’s comment. From this activity students will create an effective discussion using this website.
Concerning to the explanation above the writer interested to conduct a research entitled “The Implementation of E-learning Strategy in Discussion
Group using Nicenet.org toward International Class Program batch 2012 Students’ Writing Ability.”
B. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
From the explanation above there are still several problems need to discuss, the researcher concern in the problems bellow:
1. How is the profile of students’ writing ability in international class batch
2012?
2. How is the implementation of e-learning in discussion group using Nicenet.org in International C lass batch 2012 students’ writing ability?
3. What are the difficulties in implementation of discussion group by using Nicenet
.org in International Class batch 2012 students’ writing ability? C.
RESEARCH PURPOSES
In relation to the research question already stated the purpose of this research are:
1. To describe the profile of students’ writing ability in international class batch 2012.
2. To know the implementation of e-learning in discussion group using Nicenet .org in International Class batch 2012 students’ writing ability.
3. To find out the difficulties in implementation of discussion group by using Nicenet .org in International Class batch 2012 students’ writing ability.
D. THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDY
The results of the research hopefully will give contribution to English teaching and learning, they are:
1. Theoretically, the research will enrich the technique and method of teaching and learning English.
2. Practically, this research may be beneficial for the lecturers especially, who has applied internet in teaching process.
3. The result of the research will be beneficial for the writer to learn how to apply e-learning in teaching process deeply, beside to fulfill of requirement for the degree bachelor.
E. DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
To avoid misinterpretation or misunderstanding about the title of this research, the writer would like to clarify and explain the terms that used in this research as follows: 1.
E-Learning Nowadays, the learning process can be conducted wherever we stay, with e-learning strategy we do not need to worry about long distance learning as long as supported by the internet connectivity.
Electronic learning or E-learning is the learning process that held using electronic tools as the media to transfer the material to students such as, television, radio, internet, etc. In the modern era, information technology becomes the most important tool media which is used in the teaching and learning process.
2. Group Discussion
Group Discussion is a modern method of assessing students ’ personality. It is both a technique and an art and a comprehensive tool to judge the worthiness of the student and his appropriateness for the job.
Accurately, group discussion is to assign jobs to some of the group members such as leader, facilitator, time keeper, recorder, spoken person, process observer, or materials manager.
Online discussion is an asynchronous discussion which means a discussion that occurs between multiple people scattered in different places without meeting each other.
3. Nicenet.org Nicenet.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free services to the Internet community. Nicenet.org's primary offering, the
Internet Classroom Assistant (ICA) is designed to address the pedagogical needs and limited resources of teachers and their students.
4. Writing Writing is one of the four language skills that was productive and expressive activity to communicate indirectly, because by writing people could pull out the ideas in their mind into a series of sentences that are expected to be understood by the reader.
F. THESIS ORGANIZATION
This research is divided into five chapters and each chapter explains about something differently, according to the topics which are discussed.
CHAPTER I is the introduction which consists of the background of the research, the problem of the research, the objective of the research, the benefit of the research, clarification of key term, review of related literature, and the outline of graduating paper.
CHAPTER II is a theoretical review. This part presents the research result on theories or related research studies on similar field. It provides the readers' theories which they need to comprehend this present research.
CHAPTER III is how to construct the body of this research and the data are explained here. In this session, there would be research design, data collection, data instrument, and data analysis. Many data are collected and analyzed that needed by the researcher. The contribution of the samples gives a numerous of objective views in acquiring the data required in this part.
CHAPTER IV is finding all the results of data analysis. The research questions will get the answers in this chapter. To make it clearer for the readers, the researcher suggests the discussions of the findings
CHAPTER V is closing contains the conclusion and suggestion for the further research. The last terms of this research are a bibliography and appendix.
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Previous Research Karyawati (2014) has conducted a descriptive research on the use of Edmodo website for English teaching learning. In her research, she focus on the encouragement and discouragement of
the use of Edmodo on teaching and learning process, and also she wanted to know the strength and weakness of Edmodo when it is compared with other social media.
After finished from the research, she concludes that 60 % from the interviewers agree when using Edmodo it was easy to submit the homework and 40 % said that the website is still unfamiliar among students. In addition, the researcher found 60 % as the strength because this website focus on the education and 60 % weakness from the unfamiliarity of Edmodo among students.
The second previous research is the research about the application of inquiry method to improve students’ writing skills conducted by Sunarni (2012).
Her research focus on the using of inquiry method (inquiry is a process to answer the questions and solve the problems based on the logic testing or facts and observe) to improve student’s writing skill and she wanted to know the teaching learning situation when it is implemented in writing skill. Inquiry method is still unfamiliar in language teaching, thus, she looks for the strengths and weaknesses of this method In the end of this research, she concludes that the students were more encouraging their ability in writing skill especially in narrative text using inquiry method. In addition, the result of the action shows that application inquiry method can improve students writing skill.
The implementation of inquiry method of presentation is reasonable because it can give the students great motivation in learning writing. They can explore and express what they thought with other, they get much information and knowledge from their friend or other people. Thus, the application of inquiry method is good in impr oving students’ writing skill.
The last previous research is about the influence of group discussion to writing skill conducted by Migiyati (2009) Her research was talking about improving student’s writing skill using group discussion, but she only focus on the difference of group discussion and the significant difference of the student’s writing skill.
In the conclusion of the research, she states that there was a significant improvement of using group discussion to improve student’s writing skill, and she concludes that teaching writing used group discussion is better than others.
From those previous studies, the writer found some similarities and differences between his research and other research. The similarity with karyawati’s research is that both of them were applied an e-learning strategy in teaching and learning language. Moreover, the similarity between Sunarni’s research and this research is that the same in focus research, she also focused on how to improve student’s writing skill.
On the contrary, the differences between this research and two researches above are, one of them was applying the website Edmodo in teaching and learning process in State Islamic Studies of Salatiga, and the other one was using inquiry method in students’ improving skill.
Moreover, the use of nicenet.org is suitable for English teaching and learning in case of writing and reading, while using edmodo it seems like using media social in English teaching and learning.
In addition, between the last previous research and this research is has a similarity on using group discussion method in writing skill, but what makes this research more interest that this research use the new strategy commonly called by e-learning.
B. Literature Review 1. WRITING a. The definition of writing
Writing is one of four language skill should be mastered by every students. It is considered as a difficult skill then others, According to Byrne (1997:1), writig is considered difficult even in the mother tongue because of three factors; psychological, linguistic and cognitive because in writing skill people should pay attention to some aspects in the same time, such as content, text organization, purpose, vocabulary, appropriate diction and punctuation, and spelling.
Writing also considered as a productive activity because when you write something you are required to think and make a draft about what you want to devote.
Writing is a kind of progressive activity. It means that when you start to write something than you start to think what you will say and write it down. And after finished your written, you read over the text that you have written and make some correction and changes if you found some mistakes.
b. The types of writing
Generally, there three types of writing: 1)
Letter writing Letter writing is a correspondence which could be formal, informal and semi-formal between two parties; (a person or an organization, an establishment representing a person). There are three types of letter, those are: A)
Formal or official letter A formal letter is the correspondence between a superior and a subordinate in an establishment or any correspondence done in official setting for official purpose.
B) Informal or friendly letter
This type of letter is termed a friendly letter, because it does not carry any element of formality. C) Semi-formal letter
This type of letter has dual ‘nationality’ in the sense that it has a few formal features of a formal letter and some formal features of an informal letter. 2)
Essay writing The second type of writing which is commonly used by many if not all literate people is an essay. It is written by all person engaged in one kind of writing or the other. Students, teachers, freelance writers, etc. are involves in writing one form of essay or the other. 3)
Creative writing Creative writing is a kind of writing where the purpose is to express thoughts, feelings and emotions rather than to simply convey information. Harmer (2007:328) states that the term
‘creative writing’ suggests imaginative tasks, such as writing poetry, stories and plays.
c. The purposes of writing
Writing can be seen as having six general types of purpose, each type of purpose focusing on one of the parts of the communication model.
1) Writer: Expressive purposes.
One may write simply to express one's feelings, attitudes, ideas, and so on. This type of writing does not take the reader into consideration; instead, it focuses on the writer's feelings, experience, and needs. Expressive writing may take the form of poetry, journals, letters, and, especially, free writing. Often, a person will do expressive writing and then be disappointed when readers do not respond to it. 2) Reader: Conative purposes.
Conative writing seeks to affect the reader. Persuasive writing is conative; so is writing intended to entertain the reader. Writing intended to arouse the reader's feelings is conative. Conative writing may take about any form, so long as its intention to persuade the reader or affect the reader emotionally. 3) Context: Informative purposes.
Informative writing refers to something external to the writing itself, with the purpose of informing the reader. For instance, this page is informative, as are the other components of this Map. In our times, informative writing is usually prose, although in earlier periods poetry was used for informative purposes. 4) Message: Poetic purposes.
Poetic (or literary or stylistic) purposes focus on the message itself-on its language, on the way the elements of language are used, on structure and pattern both on the level of phrase and of the overall composition. Poetic writing can be in prose as well as in verse. Fiction has poetic purposes. Anytime one writes with an emphasis on the way the language is used, one has a poetic purpose.
5) Contact: Phatic purposes.
Phatic language (and nonverbal communication) establishes and maintains contacts between speakers or between writer and reader. In speaking, for instance, we may greet someone by saying, "Howya doin?" or Hozit goin?" These questions are not requests for information. They are intended to establish and maintain friendly contact. Phatic purposes are not significant in most writing. The use of greetings and closings in letters is one example of phatic purpose in writing. 6) Code: Metalinguistic purposes.
Comments on a piece of writing are metalinguistic. If a student attaches a note to an essay to explain why the essay is late, the note is metalinguistic in relation to the essay. An author's preface to a book is another example of metalinguistic purpose in writing.
d. The steps of writing
1) Planning
As a writer, the first step to do is to make a plan about what you want to write. Harmer (2004:4) states that experienced writers plan what they are going to write. Before starting to write, they try and decide what it is they are going to say. In planning, we should do these steps:
A) Make a questions about what we want to write.
B) Brainstorming, in this step we need to write down every single thing in our mind and write it down into phrases or single word
Brams (1995:64). 2)
Drafting We can refer to the first version of a piece of writing as a draft.
In drafting process, we need to put our ideas down on piece of paper without concern for being correct or not.
3) Editing
Editing is the important step to do. In this step, you need to recheck and reread what you have written. Harmer (2004:5) states that once writers have produced a draft they then, usually, read through what they have written to see where it works and where it does not. 4)
Final version Final version is the last step when you are writing. On the other word, it is called by publishing. It means you have completed your writing after doing editing and revising and it is ready to publish.
In addition, those steps above should not be done in sequence, sometimes writers need to correct the first step when they already done in the last step. Harmer suggests the
‘process wheel’ which is show the many directions that can be used by writers.
Figure 2.1 Process Wheel
From the figure 2.1 above, we can conclude that Harmer (2004:6) describe the flow direction of the arrow is not pointing in one direction, it means that in the steps of writing the writer always recheck the previous text. And in the end of the writing the writer can read a whole written in order to make any correction. The written text can be corrected either in terms of vocabularies, punctuation, diction, or the correlation of content between each paragraph.
e. The Requisite of a good writing
Every writer hopes that his writing is included in the category of good writing, but the writer rarely to pay attention to the small aspect when they write. The aspects that need to be considered by the authors are as follows:
1) Unity
Bram (1995:20) states that the word unity is synonymous with ‘oneness’. It means that all the sentences in the paragraph should focus on the thing expressed in the topic sentence, and all of the sentences stick together.
2) Coherence
The second aspect is coherence. This aspect is as important as the first aspect, coherence play as a crucial role in making a paragraph read well.
To achieve coherence, the writer needs to use the transitions, such as, however, although, finally, and nevertheless. Without transitions, it is too difficult for beginning writer to produce a coherent paragraph Brams (1995:21).
2. GROUP DISCUSSION a. The term of discussion
Discussion is a strategy to exchange the ideas and opinions verbally between two or more people in order to find an agreement or same perception. Moreover, Group Discussion is a process where exchange of ideas and opinions are debated upon.
b. The kind of discussion
Generally, there are two kind of discussion. Those are: 1)
Synchronous Synchronous discussion is the discussion that conducted at the same time, it could be via chat or video call
2) Asynchronous
While asynchronous discussion is opposite from synchronous, where the discussion can be conducted in different time. The asynchronous discussion can be conducted via email and etc.
c. The type of discussion
1) Topic based
In topic based, the participants will be given such topic to be discussed. The topic can be related to knowledge, abstract, controversial and opinion seeking topics. 2)
Case based While in this type, the participant create a discussion with a case topic. In this kind of discussion they are required to have known about some updated issues currently happen.
d. The advantage of discussion
1) Emphasis on Learning instead of Teaching,
Discussion method is more effective method, because it emphasizes students’ activity in the classroom, rather than simply telling and lecturing by the teacher.
2) Participation by Everybody.
In a discussion, every student participates in the forum, and therefore thinks and expresses themselves.
3) Development of Democratic way of Thinking.
Every student cooperates in the discussion, and the ideas and opinions are respected. Thus, there is a development of democratic way of thinking and arriving at decision. 4) Training in Reflective Thinking.
Students, during the course of discussion, get training in reflective thinking, which leads to deeper understanding of the historical problem under discussion. 5) Training in Self-expression.
During discussion, every student is required to express his ideas and opinions in a clear and concise manner. This provides enough opportunities to the students for training in self-expression. 6) Spirit of Tolerance is inculcated.
The students learn to discuss and differ with other members of the group. They learn to tolerate the views of others even if they are unpleasant and contradictory to each other’s views. Thus, respect for the other’s perspectives is developed.
7) Learning is made Interesting.
Discussion method made some of learning subject more interesting rather than lecturing. For example in History subject, students will feel bored if they are listening to teacher’s explanation. With discussion, students can share the knowledge and experiences they have. Active participation by the students in the discussion makes learning full of interest for the students. This also ensures better and effective learning.
e. Online discussion
Online discussion is a great tool to extend classroom conversations and learning by getting students to engage with class material online.
Moreover, online discussions can take other forms such as discussions based on a piece of work, or feedback dialogue on a student’s writing.
There are many benefits using online discussion as a learning and teaching tool: 1) Flexible, not limited by time or space. 2) In-class discussions can continue online and vice versa. 3)
Students can prepare for class activities by engaging in online discussions that are designed to have students get familiar with new topics. 4)
Online discussions can simultaneously reach different types of learners. Online discussions can enable introverted thinkers time to process a response and extroverted thinker’s time to reflect on their thoughts before posting.
5) Students can use online discussions to give and receive feedback on their work.
6) Postings are saved and conversations can be reviewed for assessment and reflection purposes.
Online discussions can be a space where students’ answer each other’s frequently asked questions about the course, helping to minimize the instructor workload by dealing with questions that might be emailed to her or him.
3. E-LEARNING a. Definition
According to Munir (2009) the word e-learning has a broad definition. E-learning o f the word “e” it means electronic and the word
“learning” means learning itself. Then the word e-learning can be definite as a learning utilized an electronic as an equipment. Especially, which is computerized. Smaldino (2011:235) argues that online learning or usually called by electronic learning or e-learning is the result of learning and teaching process which is delivered using media based on the computer.
According to Effendi and Zhuang (2005) the terminology of e- learning can refers to any training activities used media of electronic or information technology. Other perspective is come from Naidu (2006:1) he states that E-learning is commonly referred to the intentional use of networked information and communications technology in teaching and learning. While Nichols (2003) define e-learning as strictly being accessible using technological tools that are either web-based, web- distributed, or web-capable. The belief that e-Learning not only covers content and instructional methods delivered via CD-ROM, the Internet or an Intranet.
According to Derek (2003) E-learning involves the use of a computer or electronic device (e.g. a mobile phone) in some way to provide training, educational or learning material. And according to Department of Computer Science E-learning is learning which is enhanced, supported or assessed by the use of electronic media.
Moreover, E-learning may involve the use of new or established technology and/or the creation of new learning material; it may be deployed both locally and at a distance.
b. The Purpose of e-learning
E-learning can offer effective instructional methods, such as practicing with associated feedback, combining collaboration activities with self-paced research, and using simulation and games. Further, all learners receive the same quality of instruction because there is no dependence on a specific instructor.
Moreover, e-learning is not limited in a field only, then every people can browse and learn other sciences they wanted. Besides, e- learning strategy can create the teaching and learning process more effective in terms of time and place.
c. E-learning Approaches
According to Ghirardini (2011:10-11) There are two general approaches to e-learning, those are: 1)
Self-paced e-learning In self-paced e-learning, learners are offered e-learning courseware, which can be complemented by supplemental resources and assessments. And learners are free to learn at their pace. 2)
Instructor-led/facilitated e-learning In this model, the course is scheduled and led by an instructor/facilitator through an online learning platform. Learners can use communication tools to communicate and work together. And at the end, a final step typically includes an exercise or assessment to measure learning.
d. Types of E-learning
Fundamentally, there are two types of e-learning, those are: 1)
Synchronous Synchronous means “at the same time,” involves interaction of participants with an instructor via the Web in real time. Participants interact with each other and instructors through instant messaging, chat, audio and video conferencing.
2) Asynchronous
Asynchronous means “not at the same time,” allows the participants to complete the WBT (Web-based training) at their own pace, without live interaction with the instructor.
e. Elements of good e-learning
In order to make our e-learning successful we need to pay attention more about the factors needed in e-learning. There are seven elements we have to do: 1)
The Objectives of E-learning First of all, we need to identify our e-learning objectives, we have to be clear and specific about our e-learning goals.
2) The Level of Interactivity
The more interactive elements we include in the e-learning the more time and money we invest 3)
Visual Impact The next step we should do is to examine the look and feel or our e-learning and determine whether the images and graphics are aesthetically pleasing or not. 4)
Language Language is a key element of our e-learning. We have to recheck every single thing in order to ensure that the language we use in our e-learning is comprehensible, respectful and to the point.
5) The Technical Functions
The technological aspect of our e-learning is also important to be evaluated throughout. We need to know if our learners use our e- learning comfortably. 6)
Time The thing that we need to notice is about time. Basically, an effective length of time to conduct e-learning is between 15 and 30 minutes for each topic. 7)
Cost And finally, the last factor to make our e-learning good is about cost. Even if we have successfully met all the aforementioned criteria, this might be a problem if our e-learning is too expensive.
4. Nicenet.org a. Definition of Nicenet.org
Nicenet.org is a free Web-based virtual classroom, it is a place where the members of a group can share the information, ask question, and get extra help. Nicenet.org is a computer system as media to conferencing similar to e-mail and a bulletin board rolled into one.
In addition, Nicenet.org is a non-profit organization of internet professionals who give their time to provide services. Nicenet.org makes no profits from your participation.
b. Organization Profile
Nicenet.org was founded in 1995 by Nathan Dintenfass and Ben Archibald as a student project at Macalester College in Saint Paul. It is first project was matching new internet users with experienced internet users in a mentor relationship.
Nicenet.org is an organization of internet professionals who donate their time to provide services for the internet community.
c. Practical Application
Nicenet.org is designed for post-secondary and secondary classrooms, distance learning and collaborative academic projects. The
ICA was intentionally designed as a low graphics environment to decrease the load time of each page.
Every people can set up a class as a teacher in a few minutes and allow others to join. After login, users are presented with a "heads-up" display of class resources.
Moreover, there are some features in Nicenet.org that we have to know: 1)
Conferencing Create your own private, threaded conferencing on topics you make for the class or optional to allow students to create their own topics.
2) Scheduling
Put the class schedule online. With a seven-day advance view on your class homepage, students will have a heads-up display of upcoming assignments and class events. 3)
Document Sharing Students and professors have the ability to publish their documents on the site using simple Web-based forms. No knowledge of HTML is necessary. Automatically integrated with scheduling, students are one click away from turning in their assignments online, giving their peers feedback on published papers and receiving instructor’s comments.
4) Personal Messaging
Similar to traditional e-mail but fully integrated with document sharing and conferencing, personal messaging is a great way to communicate with and between individuals in your class, comment privately on conferencing postings or give private feedback on published papers. 5)
Link Sharing Share links to pertinent internet resources sorted by topics that you create.
d. Web Organization
1) Main Page of Nicenet.org
Figure. 2.2
Nicenet.org Main Page
The Figure above is the main page of Nicenet.org, and to start using this website, the teachers should click on Create , if you are student, you should click on Join A Class
a Class
(found on the right hand side of the screen which is brown color) if this is the first time you are creating the class. If you have created a class previously, you may enter your username and password under ‘Current User Log In’ in order to access that class.