Paper Example on Educational Technology: Empowering Individuals to Live Better in Society

Introduction

Education appropriately equips and suitably prepares an individual for a better living in the society. It provides intellectual development and growth that helps one to have abstract thinking and scientific reasoning. In modern society, distance learning is among the most important fields of application in educational technology. Multimedia and networking technology in education has helped in the transformation of the traditional media, i.e., books, blackboard writings to interactive online mode (McPherson, 2014). Through technological advancement, these educational materials can now be accessed by anyone more so the students from anyplace and anytime as long as one has internet. Multimedia technology has influenced education technology so that the presentation of learning materials can be made adaptively and in different forms i.e., online videos, visual audios, or in text forms.

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Today, collaborative educational networking technologies are being created to connect and bring students from remote areas to help them form groups, to enable them to work together in one shared standard environment. In China, E-learning has been done through three phases i.e., online education, correspondence–based training, and television and radio-based training (Pan & Fordham, 2016). Global expansion in education has created many ambitious educational objectives that need new curriculum techniques that will have a significant influence on training and learning. In recent decades, China, together with other Asian countries, has significantly invested in several educational changes that incorporate e-learning in tertiary levels of education. The latest advancement in communication and multimedia networking technology has led to robust and robust learning structures comprised of instructional video components. In China, e-learning is also applied to persons with special educational needs (Wang, 2018).

Statement of the Problem

With a vast population, China is faced with a variety of challenges in the educational sector. Even though China has experienced significant economic growth, it is still faced with an imbalanced educational development between the eastern and the western regions. Children from rural areas have problems accessing quality primary education for all that persists up to the tertiary level, more so in the university. In most Chinese universities, lecturing is still the conventional method of learning that involves traditional teaching techniques; this is because most of the universities' lectures are of the view that e-learning is still at low –levels.

E-learning in China is still in the development stage; thus, there are many uncertainties about this form of education in china. China is still rooted in tradition. Knowledge should be passed passively to learners by the tutors; thus, the learning materials, environment, and techniques are different from the digital learning techniques, thus becoming difficult to apply structural multimedia technology in higher education (Wang & Zhang, 2018). Different parts of China still lack information technology; therefore, trainers in these parts can only rely on hard copies and television as the only digital information source. Due to this, most Chinese universities do not have the required e-learning resources and equipment to realize new educational technologies. There exist a vast gap between that concerns technological infrastructure like multimedia and networking digital technologies in different regions in China.

Research Objectives

The study's primary research objective is to examine the development and application of Self-Instructional Multi-Media e-Learning Systems in China universities.

Specific Research Objectives

• To explore the challenges and opportunities for the implementation of self-instructional multimedia e-learning educational systems in China universities
• To determine the significance of the application of self-instructional multimedia e-learning educational systems in China universities
• To analyse the differences between self-learning approaches and other e-learning techniques
• To examine the effect of multimedia e-learning systems in China universities

Research Questions

• What are the challenges and opportunities for applying instructional multimedia e – leaning educational systems in China universities?
• Are there any significant differences between self –learning techniques and other e-learning methods?
• What are some of the effects of multimedia e-learning systems in China universities?

Significance of the Study

With the current technological advancement, universities need to implement the application of Self-Instructional Multi-Media e-Learning Systems. Thus, this study will be relevant since it will help the researcher understand the importance and effect of e-learning systems in China's universities.

Literature Review

This section provides an outline of the information that is related to the topic of the research. It includes information that is has been researched e-learning, educational technology, self-instructional learning techniques, and multimedia, and networking technologies.

Management of Education Development in China

For years now, the Chinese education system has undergone tremendous reforms. Beginning from the access to the promotion and enhancement of the quality of education. In China, the department of planning and development is responsible for the development of national culture. In China, higher education is comprised of adult and general higher education (Vayssettes & Fordham, 2016). The general higher education is provided by Conventional Universities and Colleges in China and is also responsible for the senior secondary school graduates. Adult higher education is concerned with working adults and is offered by institutions specializing in adult higher education like China Television and Radio Universities. Today, the MOE (Ministry of Education) regulations and policy sector are in charge of educational strategies, policies, and reforms. Every year educational officials conduct scholarly research to determine and find out the causes and the existing solution to the educational issues.

Emerging Multimedia Technologies for E-learning

In the modern world, multimedia technologies are emerging to be crucial in creating and developing distance learning technologies. Multimedia technologies may be referred to as creating different media technological advancements to promote and strengthen user interaction and creation of content visualization (Lau & Wah, 2014). These multimedia technologies include social networks, communication technologies, and the construction of content, among others. For example, social technology refers to the medium of communication that entails using the internet and other mobile networks to maintain and establish communities in which information is shared, and social interaction is enhanced. The emergence of social learning offers an enduring and robust learning experience in which learners are engaged to share, prepare, and discuss information (Irshad, 2018).

Learning Style and E-learning

From literature, there are different definitions of learning styles. Learning styles are referred to as the behaviours and attitudes that ascertain individuals or learners' preferred modes of training. Learning styles can be classified into two categories i.e., verbalizer-imager and wholist-analytical. Learning styles are measured using Grasha-Riechmann, Honey and Mumfords, and Felder's Index instruments of learning techniques. Research has demonstrated that students have significantly benefited from e-learning (Surjono, 2015). Some advantages include providing a collaborative and conducive learning environment, saves time in educational institutions, and offers limitless access to electronic learning items. For example videos allows students to listen to the narration, view items, and other realistic scenes.

Research Methodologies

The research will use a mixed research method that is qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The study will also use secondary and primary means of data collection. The secondary data will be obtained from the internet, library, and journal scholarly articles. The primary data will be collected through well-structured questionnaires and interviews. The study will use both convenient sampling and simple random sampling techniques (Kim & Wang, 2019). After the data has been collected, it will be coded and stored in Microsoft Excel. The data will be analysed by statistical software, namely SPSS. Both the descriptive and inferential statistics will be examined. Descriptive data will be explained by the use of summary statistics, frequency tables, and histograms. Inferential statistics will be analysed using the chi-square test and ANOVA test. The result and the findings will be discussed based on the research objectives as per the research questions.

References

Adani, A., Eskay, M., & Onu, V. (2012). Effect of Self-Instruction Strategy on the Achievement in Algebra of Students with Learning Difficulty in Mathematics. Online Submission. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED539351

Andersson, A. (2008). Seven major challenges for e-learning in developing countries: Case study eBIT, Sri Lanka. International journal of education and development using ICT, 4(3), 45-62.

Baptista Nunes, M., & McPherson, M. (2014). Proceedings of the International Conference e-Learning 2014. Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (Lisbon, Portugal, July 15-19, 2014). International Association for Development of the Information Society. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED557189

Behzadi, Y., Akhbardeh, A., & Lewis, C. (2016). U.S. Patent Application No. 14/895,726. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160106339A1/en

Guohong, G., Ning, L., Wenxian, X., & Wenlong, W. (2012). The study on the development of internet-based distance education and problems. Energy Procedia, 17, 1362-1368. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82180638.pdf

Irshad, F. M., & Liu, P. Y. (2018). Self-instructional material-centred multimedia computer program: A solution to the challenges of large heterogeneous teacher-fronted classes. http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/8503

Khatibu, H. A. (2018). ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ATTITUDE ON THE USE OF CD BASED INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESSES: A CASE OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA. European Journal of Open Education and E-learning Studies. https://www.oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejoe/article/view/1934

Kim, J. K., & Wang, Z. (2019). Sampling techniques for big data analysis. International Statistical Review, 87, S177-S191.

Lau, R. W., Yen, N. Y., Li, F., & Wah, B. (2014). Recent development in multimedia e-learning technologies. World Wide Web, 17(2), 189-198.

Muthanna, A., & Miao, P. (2015). Chinese Students' Attitudes towards the Use of English-medium Instruction into the Curriculum Courses: A Case Study of a National Key University in Beijing. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(5), 59-69. http://www.redfame.com/journal/index.php/jets/article/view/920

Pan, Y., Vayssettes, S., & Fordham, E. (2016). Education in China: A snapshot. Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. 2016. Paris.

Surjono, H. D. (2015). The effects of multimedia and learning style on student achievement in online electronics course. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 14(1), 116-122. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1057334

Wang, Y., Liu, X., & Zhang, Z. (2018). An overview of e-learning in China: History, chal...