The role of technology in the educational process

Assignment report for

Educational Communication
Master of Integration of technology in education (MITE)
Syrian Virtual University

Prepared by
Ala Alkasem
Supervised by
PhD Dima Hassan

June 2020
 Abstract

“Today we live in a world of rapid technological innovation, where seemingly every day a
new start-up comes out of nowhere with a new invention that changes things” (Couch,
2018, p. 22). And as John Dewey said “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob
our children of tomorrow”.

And from this prospect Elaf Private School a basic two ring school realized the importance
of integrating technologies with the educational process, thus the school incorporated an
open source Learning Management System –MOODLE- and applied for the examination
process for enrichment courses at the school. The system is only be available internally
inside the school premises and is not available online.

This operation was monitored and evaluated to affirm the benefits and exclude the negative
aspects that might occur, on three aspects (student’s aspect, teacher’s aspect and
administrative aspect).

The results of applying the LMS at the examination process

• From the administrative point of view:

o Accurate correction was guaranteed.
o Instant and correction was achieved.
o The cost of the examination process was less
• From the teacher’s point of view:
o Time and effort saving examination process using the LMS.
• From the student’s point of view:
o More attractive and more beneficial examination process using the LMS
except for grades 1-3 the examination process was more complex for them
and it also stalled the writing skill for students in grades 1-3.

And after analyzing these results, the school management decided to stop the examination
process for grades 1-3 and only apply it as work sheets or quizzes only. While expanding
the use of LMS vertically by adding more courses and horizontally by delivering content
to the students.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction: ................................................................................................................ 4
2 Materials and Methods ................................................................................................ 5
2.1 Problem Statement ................................................................................................. 5
2.2 Study aim ............................................................................................................... 5
2.3 Implementation methodologies .............................................................................. 5
2.4 Theory study .......................................................................................................... 6
2.4.1 LMS Definition and tools................................................................................ 6
2.4.2 Clarifying the difference between LMS, VLE and CMS................................ 6
2.4.3 Testing Features of LMS ................................................................................ 6
3 Results ......................................................................................................................... 7
4 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 8
5 Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................ 9
6 References ................................................................................................................. 10
7 Appendices ................................................................................................................ 11
7.1 Example of a test for the 5th grade ....................................................................... 11
....................................................................................................................................... 12
1 Introduction:
The rapid development of technology and the diffusion of the Internet have changed the
ways of teaching and learning. (J. Villesseche, 2019, p. 17).

And the educational process was not away from these technological developments at all,
and technology moved from being teaching aids to become at the center of the educational
process in terms of providing and developing curricula, delivering educational content to
the students and conducting exams.

An innovative type of teaching was created, called e-learning, which can be defined as: “a
technology for the development of learning experiences and students” (M. Merrill, p. 7).

To implement e-learning a Learning Management System is needed. A learning

management system (LMS) “is a software system that enables the management and
delivery of online and instructor-led training content to learners” (Dvorak, 2011, p. 19).

Also Learning Management Systems are used in blended learning which is an approach to
education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for interaction
online with traditional place-based classroom methods.

Elaf Private School which is a basic school for both rings first and second realized the
importance of technology, and its role in the educational process. Thus the school
implemented an internal Learning Management System based on open source system
Moodle.

The school management decided to use the LMS only in the testing process with the
enrichment courses that the school provides. This is because for official courses curricula,
the exam paper is a must, and there is no regulation for schools that allows exams and tests
to be carried out electronically.

The school applied exams on the enrichment courses which include (Math, Science, and
Treasures (English reading curriculum) from grade1 to grade 8 excluding KG and 9th grade.

This examination process were observed by the administration to extract the advantages
and exclude the disadvantages of LMS use in the examination process.
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Problem Statement
The use of LMS in basic schools is new in Syria and very few schools use it. Does the
adaption of the LMS and using it will be beneficial to the students, teachers and
management, or will it complicate the examination process? This is the research question.

We have three aspects to consider while using LMS in the examination process and the
questions that use of LMS raises are:

1. From the administrative point of view:

a. Does the use of LMS make the examination process easier?
b. Does the use of LMS make the cost of exams less?
2. From the teachers’ point of view:
a. Does the use of LMS make the examination process more strenuous?
b. Does the use of LMS make the examination process more beneficial?
3. From the students’ point of view:
a. Does the use of LMS make the examination process harder?
b. Does the use of LMS make the examination process more beneficial?

2.2 Study aim

To observe the examination process carried out using LMS and its effects on students,
teachers and management, to assure the advantages and reduce the disadvantages of using
the LMS in the examination process.

2.3 Implementation methodologies

This research adopted descriptive analytical approach, “which is used to describe
characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. It does not answer questions
about how/when/why the characteristics occurred. Rather it addresses the "what" question”
(Wikipedia, 2020).

A questionnaire was applied to measure the acceptance of students, teachers and

management to the LMS usage in the examination process at Elaf private school.
2.4 Theory study
2.4.1 LMS Definition and tools
LMSs are software systems that synthesize the functionality of computer-mediated
communications software (e-mail, bulletin boards, newsgroups etc.) and on-line methods
of delivering course materials (e.g. the www) (Britain & Liber, 1999)

The main tools that all LMSs provide are: (Kabassi, Dragonas, Ntouzevits, & Pomonis,
2016)

• Asynchronous and synchronous communication.

• Content development and delivery.
• Formative and summative assessment.

Thus we notice that one of the main tools a LMS presents is assessment (examination-
testing)

2.4.2 Clarifying the difference between LMS, VLE and CMS (Dvorak, 2011,
pp. 19-20)
VLE: A virtual learning environment is a software system designed to support teaching
and learning in a form distinct from a managed learning environment (MLE), which
focuses on management. A VLE usually uses Internet browsers to deliver instructions and
assessment tools, such as quizzes. More recent VLEs include wikis, blogs, and RSS

CMS: A content management system (CMS) is a repository for data, where data can be
defined as any type of file, such as documents, movies, sound, pictures, and so forth. CMSs
are frequently used for storing, controlling, revising, collaboratively sharing, and
publishing documentation. Usually a CMS serves as a central repository.

2.4.3 Testing Features of LMS (Dvorak, 2011, pp. 231-233)

• It comprises of two separate parts: the quiz body and the question bank.
• It can be used for several assessment types such as Worksheets, Self-assessment,
Short quizzes or test to evaluate topics and Exams.
• Timed and secured tests: LMS enables you to time your tests and to set them for
specific dates. Also includes security provisions that prevent learners from
accessing the Internet.
3 Results

The participants in the questionnaire were all the teachers whom attended the LMS course
(30 teacher), head of sections (5), assistant director, director, 7th and 8th grade students
(180).

The results were as follows:

Acceptance Students
Grade Unacceptable Acceptable Good Very Good Excellent
7 0% 20% 60% 20% 0%
8 4% 25% 62% 4% 5%

Acceptance teachers

Very
Grade Unacceptable Acceptable Good Excellent
Good

1 55% 20% 10% 10% 0%

2 50% 25% 10% 7% 8%
3 40% 30% 20% 5% 5%
4 30% 30% 25% 10% 5%
5 15% 35% 20% 20% 10%
6 5% 30% 40% 25% 0%
7 0% 30% 45% 20% 5%
8 5% 20% 45% 15% 15%
 Acceptance administrative

Very
Section Unacceptable Good Excellent
Acceptable Good

grades
15% 35% 40% 10% 0%
1-3
grades
0% 10% 30% 50% 10%
4-6
grades
0% 10% 20% 50% 20%
7-8

4 Discussion
The benefits from the administrative point of view were accurate correction, faster process
(instant), less cost (paperless). That’s why the acceptance was high,

From the teacher’s point of view the process is easier due to no correction is required by
them, also the assembling of the exam is also easier.

As from the student’s point of view it varied based on the student’s grade and being familiar
with technology

• Higher grades students found it more attractive than the regular exam and more
beneficial due to the instant correction process and knowing where their mistakes
were and the feedback that LMS provides.
• Grades 1-3 found it harder due to difficulties concerning using the computer in order
to answer, also they need more guidance and interaction, which is not much
preferred during exams and tests.

And also the teachers noted that using the LMS with lower grades will stall the writing
skill which is very important for this age.
5 Conclusions and Recommendations
The results showed that the use of LMS for exams gave good results and it didn’t make the
exam process more complicated and it was generally accepted with grades 4 and above,
while not as much for the grades 1-3.

It is recommended to stop the exam process using LMS for grades 1 to 3 and use it only
for study sheets and quizzes but not as an exam, thus making the students familiar with the
LMS tests when they get to a higher grade.

And it is highly useful to use LMS with higher grades, also it is recommended to use the
learning management system with the official curriculum courses if possible, and it is also
advisable to use the learning management system in order to provide educational content
and not only use it with the exam process especially when distant learning is a must like
when having the problem of covid19.
 6 References
Britain, S., & Liber, O. (1999). A Framework for Pedagogical Evaluation Of Virtual
Learning Environments. Retrieved from University of Wales – Bangor:
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001237.htm

Couch, J. D. (2018). Rewiring Education. Dallas: BenBella Books.

Dvorak, R. (2011). Moodle For Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing.

J. Villesseche, O. L.-L. (2019). Enhancing reading skills through adaptive e-learning.

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 16(1), 2-17.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/ITSE-07-2018-0047

Kabassi, K., Dragonas, I., Ntouzevits, A., & Pomonis, T. (2016). Evaluating e-learning
management system for blended learning in Greek higher education. Springer Open
Journal. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-1705-8

M. Merrill, L. D. (n.d.). Reclaiming instructional design. Retrieved 05 20, 2020, from

Semantic Scholar:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a878/7d3f3df576c0a3aeae5b105b303003a3f19a.p
df

Wikipedia. (2020, 06 18). Descriptive research. Retrieved from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_research
7 Appendices
7.1 Example of a test for the 5th grade