Asia Pacific Journal of Contemporary Education and Communication Technology

1-14

Authors: Malcolm H. Field, Ph.D.

Higher education is not immune to the changing paradigms which we are witnessing in our contemporary society. Although more rapid, societies during the Industrial Revolution may have also faced similar concerns. The future presents many unknowns. We, in the academy, must not merely let the future be created for us: we must be a part of the creative process. This paper discusses several of the many ‘contexts’ that need to be addressed by and within the academy. Although the discsussion will be far from complete, the goal of the paper is to stimulate discsussion and should utopia be found to exist, be a catalyst for brave to show leadership to create and merge, to produce a kintsugi mono, rather than wait with the broken pieces, for the futures to arrive.

22-38

Authors: Ezra S. Aguilar, Allan B. De Guzman, Ph.D., Belinda De Castro, Ph.D.

With the system-wide implementation of backward design instructional framework vis-à-vis the K+12 system in the Philippine basic education level, curriculum and content specialists are challenged to contribute their share in the design and development of learning plans and packages that ensure transferability of students’ learning. Such tall order creates an instructional chasm which calls for more prototyping efforts in the light of constructivist principles. Anchored on Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence and Instructional Systems Design, this materials preparation endeavor attempted to develop and validate a prototype learning package in mathematics with a view to promoting a culture of understanding and transfer in mathematics classroom using technology.

51-57

Authors: N.D.K. Guruge, R.A.G.P. Ranasinghe, S.H.P.D.L. Abeywardana, D.M.S.N. Siriwardhana, Dhammika H. De Silva

Smart phones play a major role in people's life nowadays. However, it has become a challenging task for visually impaired people to get involved with smart phones in their day to day activities because of the limited accessibility to the input mechanism. “Insight” is a personal assistant mobile application mainly focusing on visually impaired, which will give them a hand in their routine tasks. This application provides a tangible input mechanism based on braille which will simplify the task of using mobile phones. Two types of keypads are used in the application according to the input needed to provide. There are several main components included in this application. Learning module, speed dialer, messaging, calculator, gaming module, scheduler, public transportation assistance and navigation instructions provider are those components. The main objective of this project is to provide equal opportunity for the visually challenged people to get the experience of a sighted person would get, using a mobile phone without any restraint due to their impairment.

64-73

Authors: Kathirgamalingam Somasundaraswaran

The objective of this paper is to describe the delivery of the engineering technology level capstone design course at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) where on-campus students had a chance to effectively engage with external students in a blended mode of delivery. The resources supplied from online sources, together with a well-designed assessment criterion of this course, helped to engage students in effective participation. The experiences in delivery gained when offering this AD capstone project in 2015 were used as scenarios to highlight the pros and cons of this blended mode of delivery. The results from selected projects show that these projects helped students to enhance their ability to optimise construction tasks including: proposing cost effective labour materials, designing and constructing reinforced concrete and masonry structure and comparing the probable output from using unit cost and productivity estimations. In addition, students have also used their enhanced design knowledge and drafting techniques learned from this degree program to professionally complete the project. However, maintaining the spirit of teams and continuous communication and access to data resources were identified to be challenging for students in this course. Alternatively, this blended learning model haspositivelyinfluences to increasing learning outcomes by helping students in various ways to undertake wide-ranging tasks. In particular, less experienced students have been able to expand their skill-set, knowledge and competencies from working alongside experienced students who are already working for the industry. This paper would be useful for academics considering a similar course with blended interaction.