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The concept of learning ecologies emerged in a context of educational change. While the "learning ecologies" construct has offered a broad semantic space for characterizing innovative ways of learning, it is also true that its potential to promote innovative educational interventions may have been hindered by this same broadness. Based on this assumption, in this paper the authors carried out a systematic review of the literature on learning ecologies with the aim of analysing: (1) the varying definitions given to the concept, including the ontological perspective underlying the phenomena studied; (2) the methodological approaches adopted in studying the phenomenon; and (3) the applications of the research on this topic. Throughout this analysis, the authors attempt to describe the criticalities of the existing research, as well as the potential areas of development that align well with the theoretical/ontological issues, methodological approaches and educational applications. The authors selected and analysed 85 articles, which they then classified in a set of 20 categories defined by them on a theoretical basis. Moreover, in order to triangulate the manual coding, a bibliometric map was created showing the co‐citation activity of the 85 papers. The emerging picture showed significant variability in the ontological definitions and methodological approaches. In spite of this richness, few educational applications currently exist, particularly with regard to technology‐enhanced learning developments. Most research is observational, devoted to describing hybrid (digital and on‐site) learning activities that bridge the gap between the school and social spaces. Furthermore, many of the studies relate to the field of secondary education, with fewer studies exploring adult learning and higher education. The studies dealing with professional development relate mostly to teachers' continuing education. The authors conclude that the concept of learning ecologies could be used to address further experimental and design‐based research leading to research applications if there is proper alignment between the ontological, methodological and applicative dimensions. The main potential of this strategy lies in the possibility of supporting learners by raising their awareness of their own learning ecologies, thereby empowering them and encouraging them to engage in agentic practices. This empowerment could help maintain and build new and better learning opportunities, which every learning ecology can incorporate, amidst the chaotic abundance that characterizes the digital society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an iterative design‐based research project to develop an online design tool (the Learning Designer) to support "teachers as designers." The aim is to evaluate the potential of the tool to develop and support a knowledge‐building teaching professional community. The Learning Designer was embedded and evaluated through international online "design challenge" events, and a series of MOOCs, providing both quantitative and qualitative data. Findings indicate that the Learning Designer enables an online community of teachers from across the K‐12, further and higher education sectors (~400 per day) to build and share their developing knowledge of learning design, and that this would be strengthened by further functionality to support collaboration and peer review of the learning designs created. The research shows how digital technology could bring about large‐scale improvements in teacher professional development of TEL. The paper concludes with users' priorities for new features to mobilise community knowledge via large‐scale professional development of teachers as innovative TEL designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents data from the first six‐months of an ongoing speculative design project in which youth and researchers co‐created a videogame club, and later an eSports team, in an urban youth centre in Montréal, Québec. It describes how process philosophy informed researchers' approach to speculative design, allowing youth and researchers to co‐compose a sense of value for the club and the potentials for what they could do together through the club. This speculative process is contrasted with structuralist approaches to design‐based research in education, which can overly or pre‐determine value and mechanisms of social change, with or without the collaboration of youth and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive open online courses ( MOOCs) attract learners with a variety of backgrounds. Engaging them using game development was trialled in a beginner's programming course, 'Begin programming: build your first mobile game,' on Future Learn platform. The course has completed two iterations: first in autumn 2013 and second in spring 2014 with thousands of participants. This paper explores the characteristics of learner groups attracted by these two consecutive runs of the course and their perceptions of the course using pre- and post-course surveys. Recommendations for practitioners are offered, including when the audience is different to the one expected. A MOOC is unlikely to please everyone, especially with such large cohorts. Nevertheless, this course, using game development as a vehicle to teach programming, seems to have offered a balanced learning experience to a diverse group of learners. However, MOOC creators and facilitators should accept that a course cannot be made to please everyone and try to communicate clearly who the intended audience for the course are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the striking differences between massive open online courses ( MOOCs) and previous innovations in the education technology field is the unprecedented interest and involvement of the general public. As MOOCs address pressing problems in higher education and the broader educational practice, awareness of the general public debate around MOOCs is essential. Understanding the public discourse around MOOCs can provide insights into important social and public problems, thus enabling the MOOC research community to better focus their research endeavors. While there have been some reports looking at the state of the MOOC-related research, the analysis of the public debate surrounding MOOCs is still largely missing. In this paper, we present the results of a study that looked at the content of the public discourse related to MOOCs. We identified the most important themes and topics in MOOC-related mainstream news reports. Our results indicate that coverage of MOOCs in public media is rapidly decreasing: by the middle of 2014, it decreased by almost 50% from the highest activity during 2013. In addition, the focus of those discussions is also changing. While the majority of discussions during 2012 and 2013 were focused on MOOC providers, the announcements of their partnerships, and million dollar investments, the current focus of MOOC discourse seems to be moving toward more productive topics focused on the overall position of MOOCs in the global educational landscape. Among different topics that this study discovered, government-related issues and the use of data and analytics are some of the topics that seem to be growing in popularity during the first half of 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]