Browsing by Author "Lee, Kyungmee"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Open Access
    Automated Essay Scoring (AES) Systems: Opportunities and Challenges for Open and Distance Education
    (2022-09) Bai, John Y H; Zawacki-Richter, Olaf; Bozkurt, Aras; Lee, Kyungmee; Fanguy, Mik; Cefa Sari, Berrin; Marin, Victoria I
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Inspiring Innovations // This paper reports on a systematic review of artificial intelligence applications in education (AIEd) with a special focus on automated essay scoring (AES) systems. AES systems may provide enormous time-savings, especially for large-scale distance teaching institutions with massive numbers of students, by reducing marking and freeing up teachers’ resources for individual feedback and personal support of distance learners. After an introduction on how AES systems function, a review corpus of published articles between 2007 and 2021 is synthetised to evaluate critical discussions and research trends in AES. Articles in the corpus generally evaluated either the accuracy of AES systems or the experience of users, and include implementation of AES systems in various settings (i.e., higher education, K-12, and large-scale assessments). Despite the opportunities that AES might afford for educational institutions, many questions related to the feasibility and validity of AES systems, their implementation, and the associated ethical issues are still unanswered. The findings of this research provide a solid foundation for this discussion. // Paper ID 8339
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    Beyond Allowing the Disadvantaged in: Biographical Perspectives of Online Higher Education Alumni with Migratory Backgrounds
    (2022-09) Xarles-Jubany, Gemma; Lee, Kyungmee
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Promoting Equity and Inclusion // Since the United Nations made a call in 2016 to facilitate online education for migrants worldwide, the number of online initiatives targeting this profile of students has been growing. The rapid growth in course offerings and students' enrolment has mistakenly been considered evidence for the increased accessibility of university education. However, improving access to higher education is a complex and multidimensional social issue beyond allowing the disadvantaged in universities. Thus, our research aims to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the accessibility of online higher education rooted in an actual online HE practice, going beyond the point of entrance. This article focuses on the biographical narratives of three alumni from the Open University of Catalonia, each with migratory backgrounds from a different continent of origin and previous university experience, illustrating the journey of obtaining an online bachelor's degree. A set of influencing factors has been identified, based on which the accessibility of online education has been reconceptualised. Additionally, we suggest strategies to better support this profile of students in the context of online universities. // Paper ID 6357
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    Discourses of Distance Education and Covid-19 in South Korean News between 2019 and 2021: A Topic Modeling Analysis
    (2022-09) Lee, Kyungmee; Kim, Tae-Jong; Bozkurt, Aras; Zawacki-Richter, Olaf; Sari, Berrin Cefa; Marin, Victoria I
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Promoting Equity and Inclusion // This paper aims to identify dominant discourses of distance education that emerged in Korean society before, during, and after the Covid-19 outbreak in January 2019. To achieve the aim, the authors have conducted a Topic Modeling analysis of 8,865 news articles published by 54 South Korean media outlets between 2019 and 2021. As a result, five key topics and the top 10 keywords associated with each topic have been identified for 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively—15 topics and 150 keywords in total for the three years. There have been meaningful shifts not only in the quantity of news articles published each year but also in the quality of conversations presented in those articles on distance education. This article carefully analysed and reflected both continuity and discontinuity of distance education discourses in Korean society. Based on the results, we have drawn four discussion points: a) the normality of DE discourses, b) the historicity of DE discourses, c) the maturity of DE discourses, and d) the partiality of DE discourses. Despite the specific cultural context from which the four points were drawn, the discussions offer valuable insights applicable to different cultural contexts. // Paper ID 8809
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    Evaluation of Global Online Training Activities of the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO) in 2020
    (2022-09) Zawacki-Richter, Olaf; Lee, Kyungmee; Elmasry, Eiman
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Fostering Lifelong Learning // This paper reports on an evaluation of the online training activities of the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO) in Turin (Italy). The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the design, implementation and quality of training activities of ITCILO that were delivered in an online distance learning mode since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. The methodology for this evaluation included quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods to provide conclusions and recommendations from the findings, substantiated with statistical data and case studies documenting good practice. 1.284 responses from 151 different countries were collected from a participant's survey, and in-depth interviews were conducted with ITCILO's staff members (27), institutional clients (2), and participants (7). The results of the evaluation are reported in terms of training outreach, learning effectiveness, learner preference of the international online training activities. For example, the number of enrolments on the Centre’s training activities increased dramatically, caused by the rapid adoption of online training activities during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Subsequently, 75 % of the participants said they would prefer digital training activities (blended or fully online) in the future. However, internet connectivity is still a problem in many countries: 50 % of participants from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania reported they had regular issues with internet connectivity that disrupted their learning. Based on the findings, ten recommendations for the further development of ITCILO's online training activities are presented. // Paper ID 0979
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    The State of the Art in Blended Learning Research in a Time of the Covid-19 Pandemic: Coronavirus Diaries in the Educational Realm
    (2022-09) Bozkurt, Aras; Marin, Victoria I; Lee, Kyungmee; Cefa Sari, Berrin
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // The Covid-19 pandemic was a crisis on a global scale, and it impacted not only our lives but also our understanding of the educational landscape. There were many waves of the pandemic at varying levels and as these waves hit our globe, the way we live and see the world has been changing. Consequently, we entered a time which was called the new normal which required being flexible, resilient, and adaptive. The educational landscape has also been challenged by the waves of the pandemic. The onsite (face-to-face) learning was replaced by online distance learning which was attributed as emergency remote teaching and learning in many cases. As the new normal forced us to change our traditional notions and practices, many higher education institutions adopted blended learning to benefit from opportunities of both modalities, that is, onsite and online learning. In this regard, this study implements a systematic approach to examine papers published in the first two years of the pandemic on blended learning. For this purpose, the study adopts social network analysis and text mining to examine a total of 104 peer-reviewed publications. The initial findings identified four broad themes. Accordingly, these are (1) diversity and confusion in the blended learning terminology, (2) Learning experiences and effectiveness of blended learning practices, (3) technology-dominated and online-mediated blended learning approaches, and (4) blended learning for applied and practical courses. The paper discusses these themes, provides suggestions, and explains implications for future research directions. // Paper ID 6418