How can Dialogic Theory Help us Understand the Role of Technology

in Teaching Thinking for the Internet Age？

Rupert Wegerif

This paper argues for the value of a dialogic approach to teaching thinking with technology in the Internet Age. It begins with the argument that technology is not external to thinking but that technology use is intrinsic to thinking， shaping both how we think and how we value thinking. A discussion of the Flynn effect is used to make the point that thinking changes in history as a result of changes in technology use. This raises the question of the kind of thinking we need to teach for the Internet Age. Four pedagogical approaches to teaching thinking with technology are outlined： technology as tutor， technology as cognitive tool， technology as modelling environment and technology as support for dialogue. It is argued that the last ‘dialogic’ approach is a way of integrating all the other approaches and this claim is illustrated with examples of practice taken from recent educational technology development projects.

Keywords： computer-supported collaborative learning； dialogic education； education technology； teaching thinking； educational theory

Automatic Evaluation of Online Learning Supported by Learning

Process Data Mining： Development and Application

Wei Shunping

MOOCs （Massive Open Online Courses）， which have been developed at top universities in the United States with global influence since 2011， have undoubtedly set a successful example of online learning. Unlike previous OER movement， MOOCs share quality resources， with provision of learning support services. Open online courses are facing tensions between growing numbers of learners and limited numbers of teachers. This study aimed to alleviate the problem through technical solutions. Aiming at a breakthrough in online learning evaluation， it proposed an “automatic evaluation of online learning supported by learning process data mining”. This evaluation model was applied to a Moodle-based online course data. An online learning evaluation index was put forward with an automatic scoring system. The results showed a high consistency between grades calculated automatically and those given by tutors， which proved the effectiveness of automatic evaluation of online learning.

Keywords： MOOCs； online learning； learning analysis； automatic evaluation； analytic hierarchy process

Community Education in China： Using Co-word Clustering

to Identify Research Focuses

Xu Huizuo

This research studies 1559 papers on community education published in core academic journals from 1980 to 2014 as stored at the CNKI （China National Knowledge Infrastructure） database. Research instruments of Co-word clustering， bibliometric analysis， bibliographic item co-occurrence mining system （BICOMS） and SPSS are adopted. Visual knowledge Mapping is used to describe the clustering relationship among high-frequency keywords. The paper analyses the research focuses and development trend of community education in the last three decades and provides a reference for future studies in the new era.

Keywords： community education； co-word analysis； cluster analysis； knowledge mapping

Designing Mental Health Service Needs Scale for Open Education Students

Fu Lei

Mental health service need is the foundation for public health service system， and it is an important part of health psychology research. A mental health service needs scale （MHSNS） for open education students is presented in the study. Research instruments of literature review， interview and content analysis were adopted. Through item analysis， exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analysis， 37 out of 51 items were tried and selected as the key index， covering six major factors. The results show that the MHSNS is reliable and valid， and can be used to measure mental health service needs of open education students.

Keywords： open education students； mental health service need； scale design

Promotion Strategies for State Benchmark Courses

Yang Fangqi and Yang Xiaohong

The development of State Benchmark Courses （SBC） mainly includes design， promotion and application of the courses， with course promotion being the weakest. Lack of information about the SBC courses among college teachers， students and adult learners is a key factor resulting in the courses being known and used by small groups at small scales. Suggestions are made on improving the influence and popularity of the SBC courses by innovating promotion strategies， agencies and channels.

Keywords： State Benchmark Courses； promotion strategy； promotion agency； promotion channel

Quantified Self Technology for Mobile Learning in the Age of Big Data

Zhang Zhishi， Zhang Jixian and Lin Hui

Quantified Self Movement was unimaginable twenty years ago. With the invention of wearable devices， computing system is equipped with perception similar to that of human beings. “Self-knowledge” can help optimize human existence better than “challenging environment” since we can learn more about our personal data. Knowing about ourselves is not only an excellent quality， but also a survival skill. A device can help analyze our behavior， habits， etc. It can also simulate human intelligence， help us learn or even learn on behalf of us.

Keywords： Horizon Report； wearable devices； quantified self； big data； online education