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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 reviews the effects of new technology on teaching and learning by considering examples of studies carried out with five kinds of teaching in five contexts. The five teaching situations are direct instruction, adjunct instruction, facilitating the skills of learning, facilitating social skills and widening learners’ horizons. The five contexts are primary schools, secondary schools, higher education, special education and out of school. The aim of the paper is primarily to inform teachers about current work in these different areas. [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]

This paper draws on three research projects (undertaken in 1997–99, 2002 and 2004–05) that have examined innovation in learning and teaching methods in UK higher education. The first two of these focused on such matters as departmental and institutional cultures and the factors that have either enabled or inhibited change. The third has begun to monitor the impact of the process of establishing Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The prospects for introducing innovations in teaching and learning in higher education are considered in relation to these wider contexts in terms of policies, structures and cultures. [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]

Proponents have marketed e-learning by focusing on its adoption as the right thing to do while disregarding, among other things, the concerns of the potential users, the adverse effects on users and the existing research on the use of e-learning or related innovations. In this paper, the e-learning-adoption proponents are referred to as the technopositivists. It is argued that most of the technopositivists in the higher education context are driven by a personal agenda, with the aim of propagating a technopositivist ideology to stakeholders. The technopositivist ideology is defined as a ‘compulsive enthusiasm’ about e-learning in higher education that is being created, propagated and channelled repeatedly by the people who are set to gain without giving the educators the time and opportunity to explore the dangers and rewards of e-learning on teaching and learning. Ten myths on e-learning that the technopositivists have used are presented with the aim of initiating effective and constructive dialogue, rather than merely criticising the efforts being made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on educators' experiences of a massive open online course ( MOOC) focused on the Carpe Diem learning design process. The MOOC was developed in-house using Blackboard Course Sites by a university innovation and development unit, Learning Transformations, at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. We report on a study of MOOC participants' experiences. Conclusions include illumination of MOOCs' value as professional development opportunities that can provide an authentic relevant experience for educators, as well as promote new skills in learning design and delivery for their own teaching. We propose that participation in relevant MOOCs may provide appropriate professional development for academics, and additionally encourage them to develop their teaching practices. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wiki activities are among the most common online learning activities examined by previous research due to the collaborative learning properties wikis offer; however, students are not always satisfied with such activities. Due to this dissatisfaction, learners may finish the wiki activities but not repeat them. While wikis are primarily used to collate content, the wiki activity proposed in this study is used foremost as a discussion forum. Drawing on the value‐based adoption model, this study examines the influence of perceived benefits, enjoyment, peer interaction, ease of use, and time and effort costs to explain students' reluctance to repeat the wiki activity. Furthermore, it assesses the moderating effect of peer interaction on the other variables. A survey was conducted, and 110 valid responses obtained. The findings reveal that the need to invest a lot of time and effort into the activity is the main reason for not repeating the activity proposed, while peer interaction and enjoyment help to reduce these perceived costs. Therefore, teachers should emphasize the benefits of in‐group wiki activities with regard to not only the final learning performance but also the activities' hedonic and social value. Furthermore, teachers should offer a training session and a user's guide for each specific activity, as well as courses about the team management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers opinions learning and learning assessment analytics, which are defined as the measurement and analysis of data about learners for the purpose of understanding learning. It is argued that learning analytics have a limited usefulness in higher education because it is based on data generated by student interaction in online learning and social media environments, educational technology whose use remains far from universal. It is argued that the use of data analytics generated from educational assessment will be of more value in higher education, as that is a process in which all teachers and students are engaged.

Improving teacher design promises to be a scalable, sustainable approach to building capacity amongst a workforce faced with complex and evolving drivers of change in higher education worldwide. While design has long been recognised as a routine part of teaching, there has been renewed interest in supporting and understanding the design work that teachers do to foster innovation, particularly in technology‐enhanced learning, at institutional scale by influencing teachers' practices. Re‐framing teaching as design usefully emphasises the creative problem‐solving needed to balance pedagogical, logistical and technical considerations within specific educational contexts, tailored to learners' needs. There is potential for this re‐framing to build on and advance work in "learning design" and "design for learning" that has generated a wide range of practical supports and tools. In this article, we explore, problematise and conceptualise the notion of "teacher as designer" within the complexity of contemporary higher education through a critical review of existing empirical and conceptual work internationally. We offer insights into the current state of knowledge about teacher design in higher education, highlight gaps and possibilities, offer a new conceptualisation drawing on practice theory and set out propositions to provoke further debate about teacher design as a vehicle for sustainable innovation in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide a brief history of how academics and information technology ( IT) professionals have come to be on opposing sides in a battle for position, influence and direction within universities. The long-running conflict has shaped different belief systems and resultant values and behaviours that are no longer appropriate nor tolerable if universities are to successfully address the emerging challenges of the 21st century. We argue that in the complex world of higher education, a new pathway that involves partnerships between IT departments and faculties is a fast-and risk-averse-way through the new challenges and issues. We suggest that leaders have an opportunity to impact effective and corporate decision making by enabling both camps and factions to share a better understanding of each other's contributions and collaborate around key IT and learning technology initiatives. We conclude with 16 action recommendations for leaders to create a better future for higher education learning with technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the findings of a study conducted to determine whether blogs can be used as an effective educational tool. The research subjects were a class of postgraduate students at a university in Hong Kong, China over a period of a single semester. The author of the study focused on a primary question of whether blogs can contribute to an improved learning environment. He also examined the use of other Web 2.0 applications such as Wikies, social networking tools, and social book-marking tools in the classroom.

The article focuses on the study concerning the development of an organizational architecture of participation that allows organization adopt and improve educational system through e-learning design in Great Britain. The primary purpose of the study is to capture the significance of e-learning for post-compulsory education improvement. The study reveals that e-strategy for education system help improve all phases of educational system including in higher education (HE) across the country. The cites that e-strategy for education system has four common goal such as capability improvement in the workforces, providers and learners, suitable of educational technology and effectiveness for educational system for learners and children.

Technology is integral to carrying out many types of business transactions and has become entwined in the very fabric of everyday life. In the educational environment—particularly higher education—technology is underutilised as a pedagogical tool and in many cases remains largely untapped. Winona State University and its laptop programme learned some valuable lessons from the marriage between the application of the Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education and technology. The transformation into a leading laptop university was neither smooth nor easy, but it is a successful case about principle-centred technological change and improved student learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]