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Abstract: Developing and then scaling up an educational innovation so that it achieves on the dimensions of depth, sustainability, spread and change of ownership is a complex endeavor. In this paper, we present a study of one such innovation which has been developed through a design-based research process in a Singapore school. The innovation features a primary science curriculum integrating the 5E inquiry phases with the use of mobile technology. It has evolved through the various development phases to where the innovation is becoming an integral part of routine classroom practices. With the objective of examining the impact of the curriculum innovation on science teaching and learning, this paper reports some of the results of our scaling efforts, in particular, those relating to changes in classroom practices and the effectiveness brought by the curriculum innovation. Using qualitative data analysis methods, the study discusses the transformation of the classroom practices on teachers' pedagogical approaches, classroom culture, lesson plan design, linkages to informal learning, assessment methods, and parent involvement. Quantitative analysis of the performance of students in science assessments when compared between pre-scaling and scaling phases shows the efficacy of the innovation when scaled up to a whole grade level. Implications are drawn to inform future studies or work on factors for effective scaling up of technology-supported curricular innovations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Test-based assessment tools are mostly focused on the use of computers. However, advanced Information and Communication Technologies, such as handheld devices, opens up the possibilities of creating new assessment scenarios, increasing the teachers’ choices to design more appropriate tests for their subject areas. In this paper we use the term Computing-Based Testing (CBT) instead of Computer-Based Testing, as it captures better the emerging trends. Within the CBT context, the paper is centered on proposing an approach for “Assessment in situ” activities, where questions have to be answered in front of a real space/location (situ). In particular, we present the QuesTInSitu software implementation that includes both an editor and a player based on the IMS Question and Test Interoperability specification and GoogleMaps. With QuesTInSitu teachers can create geolocated questions and tests (routes), and students can answer the tests using mobile devices with GPS when following a route. Three illustrating scenarios and the results from the implementation of one of them in a real educational situation show that QuesTInSitu enables the creation of innovative, enriched and context-aware assessment activities. The results also indicate that the use of mobile devices and location-based systems in assessment activities facilitates students to put explorative and spatial skills into practice and fosters their motivation, reflection and personal observation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework is increasing in use by educational technology researchers around the world who are interested in issues related to technology integration. Much that is good can be found in the TPACK framework; however considerable theoretical work needs to be done if TPACK research is to cohere and constructively strengthen the field of educational technology. This paper uses criteria for theory building as a lens for examining the TPACK framework. Specific weaknesses are identified, which in turn suggest areas needing theoretical development. This paper calls for researchers to increase emphasis on using research findings to constructively build common definitions and understandings of the TPACK constructs and the boundaries between them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

New information technologies provide great opportunities for education. One such opportunity is the use of remote control laboratories for teaching students about control systems. This paper describes the creation of interactive remote laboratories (RLs). Two main software tools are used: Simulink and Easy Java Simulations (EJS). The first is a widely used tool in the control community, whereas the second is an authoring tool designed to build interactive applications in Java without special programming skills. The RLs created by this approach give students the opportunity to perform experiments with real equipment from any location, at any time, and at their own pace. The paper ends with an evaluation of this approach according to students’ criteria and academic results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper focuses on pedagogical plans intended as objects to support human communication. Its purpose is to describe a structural model for pedagogical plans which can assist both authors and users. The model helps authors to engage in the design of a plan as a communication project and helps users in the process of understanding, customizing, enacting and evaluating an existing plan. A distinctive feature of the model is the adoption of a hierarchical representation where each plan can be represented as a hierarchical network of constituent elementary plans that focus in on more specific parts of the learning process, thus going from more general to more concrete, detailed levels. This makes it possible to approach plan authoring as a top-down process, something that presents considerable advantages. It is a valuable aid for mastering the complexity of design and at the same time represents a maieutic factor that encourages authors to establish levels of conceptualization and abstraction which would otherwise remain unexpressed. The user too comprehends the plan in terms of a top-down process, where the specific steps of a learning activity are seen as originating from more general and abstract conceptualizations. In this way communication and understanding are enhanced and facilitated. The paper provides an easy-to-understand example of a hierarchical plan and describes a prototype tool that has been developed for managing hierarchical plans. Finally some preliminary results are presented from initial application of the model and the associated tool in the context of an international research project on educational innovation in mathematics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The term ‘interactive’ appears in two distinct strands of educational research discourse: one concerning pedagogy and the other concerning new technologies in education. As new technology increasingly pervades most classrooms in the UK, it seems likely that it would be fruitful to explore, both theoretically and empirically, links between the concepts of ‘interactive teaching’ and ‘interactive technology’. Previous reviews of the literature concerning interactive teaching have revealed a variety of ideas which are considered to be involved, with a number of common elements suggesting a scale of interactivity ranging from ‘authoritative’ to ‘dialogic’. There was a consistent suggestion in the literature that shifting the balance of interaction in classrooms towards the dialogic end of the scale would bring improvements to the learning process and consequently to attainment outcomes. However, current analysis focuses on whole-class teaching, which is only one mode of class organisation. This paper explores the literature on interactivity in group and individual work with ICT, and characterises categories of interactivity for these forms of activity organisation. A framework is presented which relates these categories to those previously devised and to the ways in which teachers and learners orchestrate the features of their classroom environment and interact with ICT to support action towards learning goals. The paper argues that a shift towards a greater role for learners in orchestrating resources in the classroom will be valuable and concludes that there is potential for ICT to support more dialogic and synergistic approaches in group and individual activity than is seen at present. It also identifies the potential for using the framework in future research concerning the effects of technological developments on learning in classroom settings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In March 2005, the Department for Education and Skills published its e-strategy, Harnessing Technology (, Harnessing technology: Transforming Learning and Children’s Services). Within this, two of its key objectives were: firstly to transform teaching and learning, and help to improve outcomes for children and young people, through shared ideas, more exciting lessons, and online help for professionals. Secondly, to engage ‘hard to reach’ learners, with special needs support, in more motivating ways of learning, and give them more choice about how and when they learn. This paper reports findings from a research project, funded by Becta, which formed part of Becta’s broader role in shaping and delivering the government’s Harnessing Technology e-strategy. The project ran for 7 months, from September 2007 to March 2008. It aimed to find out how learners and their representatives have influenced schools’ decisions to introduce, support and grow opportunities for personalising learning through the use of technology. The paper focuses specifically on the key facilitators and barriers, from both staff and learners’ perspectives, which influence the level of personalised learning activities using digital technology in schools. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports on one aspect of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)-funded project ‘Scoping a vision of formative e-assessment’, namely on cases of formative e-assessment developed iteratively with the UK education practitioner community. The project, which took place from June 2008 to January 2009, aimed to identify current theories and practices relating to formative assessment of learning where technologies play a key role. The project aimed to scope the ‘domain’ of formative e-assessment, by developing cases of practice and identifying key formative processes within them, which are affected by the use of technologies. From this analysis, patterns were extracted to inform future software design. A discussion of the key issues emerging from the review of the literature on formative e-assessment, a full account of the project methodology – the design pattern methodology – as well as a critical discussion of the findings – namely the patterns and the role of technology – are the focus of a separate paper (see . This paper documents how cases of formative e-assessment were developed during the project by a collaborative methodology involving practitioners from a range of post-16 education contexts. The cases were analysed with reference to key theoretical perspectives on formative assessment, particularly the work of . In addition, Laurillard’s Conversational Framework (2002, 2007) was used to locate practices of formative assessment within a wider concept of learning and teaching involving technologies, although a detailed discussion of the latter is not within the scope of this paper [1] For a comprehensive project report see . 1 . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we report on the successes and challenges of a creative project involving museums, schools and interactive technologies. The MuseumScouts project is EU Comenius 2.1 funded and involves teachers, teacher educators, museum staff, students and researchers from five European countries: Germany (Berlin and Munich), Lithuania (Vilnius), Portugal (Porto), Austria (Linz), and the UK (Bristol and London). The MuseumScouts project arises from a European-wide desire to bring schools and cultural and educational institutions such as museums of different kinds, art galleries, science centres and historic buildings, together in collaborative learning experiences. The project aims to develop learner-centred approaches in the ‘museum’ environment: learners use information they collect during authentic learning opportunities to design short interactive multimedia teaching presentations with collaborative authoring tools. The focus is on knowledge acquisition, transformation and communication. During a ‘museum’ visit students (mainly 10–19year olds but also, in some cases, adult learners) research specific artefacts, using a range of devices, from pencil and paper to Smartphones, to gather information in the form of notes and photographs. They then work in teams to create interactive multimedia presentations about the artefacts to inform and quiz their peers. The authoring tool, ‘Evolution’, which underpinned the project enables students to collaborate and work online. The principle is of ‘learning by teaching’: the idea that considering how to convey to others what you have understood yourself is an important process for ‘deep’ learning. The project has been run with groups of students at least once in each partner country and twice in several. Countries implemented the project activities in different subject areas, at different stages in the school curriculum and with differing amounts of available time. Student motivation and engagement were notable in all contexts. We present a review of findings common to all the partners in order to share experiences of implementing this pedagogic approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The use of ICT to enhance teaching and learning depends on effective design, which operates at many levels of granularity from the small to the very large. This reflects the range of educational problems from course design down to the design of activities focused on specific learning objectives. For maximum impact these layers of design need to be co-ordinated effectively. This paper delineates a reference model of ‘layered learning design’ where designs at one layer should use and incorporate designs from lower (more specific) layers in elegant and powerful ways. This would allow different designers, or tutors, to focus on different levels of abstraction in the learning design process, and to collaborate in combining designs to make a substantial impact on practice. The paper first delineates a model of the different layers of learning design. These layers range from the strategic structuring of learning activity (to achieve high-level goals) down to the design for basic learning activities. The paper then tackles the issue of the integration of this model with a major ‘aggregation’ model for learning objects. The essential insight is that learning objects should be viewed as instances of learning designs. This leads to a combined reference model where there is a correspondence between learning designs and learning object types at each layer. Finally, the paper applies the combined model to map some major contributions to learning design research and development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, several issues regarding the epistemology of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) are first raised for the purpose of clarifying the construct. Specifically, the transformative and integrative views are juxtaposed for exploring the epistemology of TPCK, and, at the end, the transformative view is adopted concluding that TPCK is a unique body of knowledge that is constructed from the interaction of its individual contributing knowledge bases. Then, ICT–TPCK is introduced as a strand of TPCK, and is described as the ways knowledge about tools and their affordances, pedagogy, content, learners, and context are synthesized into an understanding of how particular topics that are difficult to be understood by learners or difficult to be represented by teachers can be transformed and taught more effectively with technology in ways that signify its added value. One model for the development and another for the assessment of ICT–TPCK are then discussed. Technology Mapping is proposed as a situative methodology for the development of ICT–TPCK, and three forms of assessment, namely, expert assessment, peer assessment, and self-assessment are proposed for assessing teachers’ competencies to teach with technology. The paper also reports on the empirical findings of a study that was undertaken to investigate the impact of the proposed models on student learning within the context of two design tasks in a pre-service primary teacher education course. Repeated measures within-subject effects were tested and the results indicated that ICT–TPCK competency significantly improved over the course of a semester. The results of this study clearly show that the theoretical models proposed herein can positively impact the development of ICT–TPCK. Lastly, these results can be used as baseline data in future studies that may be conducted to further validate or improve the proposed models in different contexts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyses the process of multimedia integration in English language classrooms equipped with interactive whiteboard (IWB) technology, and offers insights into the theoretical underpinnings of multimedia use in language learning from the perspective of cognitive learning theory. The data discussed here are drawn from a study carried out as part of a PhD research programme at Lancaster University (UK). The study was conducted within an interpretative research paradigm, and data were collected and analysed according to a qualitative approach. In the first part, the paper discusses some perceived pedagogical benefits of adopting a multimedia-oriented approach in the IWB-based classroom. Secondly, it discusses a variety of potential problems related to the use of multimedia resources in the language classroom in question. Finally, the paper draws upon the literature on multimedia learning to address the potential pedagogical implications of these research findings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes a complete lab work management framework designed and developed in the authors’ department to help teachers to manage the small projects that students are expected to complete as lab assignments during their graduate-level computer engineering studies. The paper focuses on an application example of the framework to a specific lab work related to Low Level Input/Output. Special emphasis is laid on the most complex aspects of such environments. The management framework provides specific tools for dealing with these issues: the management of student work delivery and evaluation results accessibility, automatic or semi-automatic assessment of student work, and detection of lab assignments that are highly suspect of having been copied. Additionally, the lab work framework represents a method through which a closer peer-to-peer or one-to-many communication with students can be attained. The lab work described in the paper is a small project based on a specification document. It is designed to get students to gain an in-depth knowledge of the computer Input/Output subsystem. While the framework has been in use for over 10 years, the specific Input/Output lab work has been managed by the framework tool-chain for the last 6 years, and used by over 2000 students. The lab work management framework is a step towards the feasibility of a closer-to-the-student higher education system, where the main interaction between students and teachers can be based on individual or on small group tutorials. Using the tool-chain, the academic load of teachers in mass course environments can be kept at acceptable levels, making for higher quality education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Recent research suggests that training teachers as learning designers helps promote technology-enhanced educational innovations. However, little attention has been paid so far to the interplay between the effectiveness of Teacher Professional Development (TPD) instructional models promoting the role of teachers as designers and the capabilities (and pitfalls) of the heterogeneous landscape of available Learning Design (LD) tooling employed to support such TPD. This paper describes a mixed method study that explores the use of a novel Integrated Learning Design Environment (ILDE) for supporting a TPD program on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Collaborative Learning (CL). 36 Adult Education (AE) and Higher Education (HE) in-service teachers, with little experience on both CL and ICT integration, participated in a study encompassing training workshops and follow-up full-lifecycle learning design processes (from initial conceptualization to implementation with a total of 176 students). The findings from our interpretive study showcase the benefits (and required effort) derived from the use of an integrated platform that guides teachers along the main phases of the learning design process, and that automates certain technological setup tasks needed for the classroom enactment. The study also highlights the need for adaptation of the TPD instructional model to the learning curve associated to the LD tooling, and explores its impact on the attitude of teachers towards future adoption of LD practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an educational innovation project based on learner-generated videos. The videos were created for a YouTube channel specifically developed for a marketing course. Despite the potential of YouTube as a learning tool in education, its use as a learning instrument for learner-generated content is scarce. In this project, students could voluntarily participate in the creation of videos, which were then uploaded to the channel by the professors. At the end of the course, students completed a questionnaire assessing learning outcomes and satisfaction. The findings showed that active participation had a direct influence on the perceived acquisition of cross-curricular competencies and on academic performance. While participation did not directly increase subjective learning or satisfaction with the course, it had an indirect influence through cross-curricular competencies. This research contributes to previous literature by showing how learner-generated content and the use of YouTube as a teaching vehicle has a positive impact on students' learning outcomes and satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of educational video games in education is undeniable and the benefits of using video games in classroom instruction have been proved by many researchers. Nevertheless, these benefits have not been proved sufficiently for some domains, such as artistic disciplines. In this paper we explore the effects of an educational video game on high school students' interest towards classical theatre. The game covers the story of “The Foolish Lady” ( La Dama Boba ) based on the homonymous classic theatre play by Spanish playwright Lope de Vega. A mixed experimental design was followed, whereby researchers conducted pre-tests and post-tests to estimate the effect of playing the video game on student interest (within-subjects factor) towards theatre. We also measured changes in linguistic knowledge and knowledge about the play. The experiment was carried out with 754 students from 8 different schools in the Madrid region in Spain, divided into experimental group and two control groups. With the objective of improving the comparative power of the study, two control groups were used: (1) traditional teaching with the usual teacher and, (2) as the best educative case we could implement, teaching with a professional actor who had played the male protagonist of the theatre play. The experimental group played the video game. Results show that the video game was more effective in incrementing students' interest in theatre than the traditional class, but slightly less effective than the class with the actor. On the other hand, game and teacher approaches obtained similar results in the improvement of students' knowledge about the play's plot and some linguistic concepts. These results open up a new horizon in using video games as motivators in different artistic domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature on e-learning implementation is either descriptive or normative and falls short on explaining how managers act in introducing and disseminating e-learning projects in school settings. In this paper, we follow a symbolic approach in order to offer a grounded model for explaining how managerial framing of the introduction of e-learning gives rise to different patterns of action and intended outcomes. Our model is grounded in the study of seven business schools in Brazil, where the competitive and institutional settings offer significant variety for formulating propositions through the grounded theory methodology. We conclude that managers act to integrate e-learning using cultural incongruity reduction strategies when they perceive e-learning as a way of improving existing teaching practices. They may also aim at insulating e-learning through incongruity avoidance when they perceive e-learning in economic terms. These results offer new empirical evidence and fresh explanations when the phenomenon of managerial action in e-learning implementation is looked at in symbolic terms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the relation between innovations and productivity in Dutch secondary schools. Innovation clusters are directly included in the production model. In order to correct for differences between schools, we add school type, region and year controls. The results indicate that process innovations, teacher professionalization innovations and education chain innovations are positively related to productivity, whereas new courses innovations and pedagogic innovations are negatively related to productivity. The results also show that innovations are directly related to productivity, but also through student performance. The positive results of teacher professionalization, education chain and process innovations are similar to what is found elsewhere in the literature. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates a ‘grand’ educational technology innovation through theoretical lenses inspired by work. Through taking this approach it is possible to show how ideas about the form of the innovation and perceptions of its ultimate ‘success’ or ‘failure’, varied between stakeholder groups. The project was pedagogically effective and popular with students, but was difficult to ‘sell’ to academics, had no senior management sponsor, and was unable to bring about cultural change in the institution despite the capital funding designed to do just that. Although many pedagogical lessons were learned, and have since been applied in other learning spaces around the host campus and elsewhere, these successful disseminations of changed practice were not in accordance with the objectives of key stakeholders. Therefore, they went unconsidered when decisions were taken about the project’s sustainability: hence the notion of ‘invisible success’. The project’s ‘failure’ is only apparent when viewed from certain perspectives; nevertheless, these perspectives are those of the powerful (or in terms, those possessing capital and academic power) and are the consequence of deeply-rooted structural features in HE, which include funding models, risk-averseness, and fragmented responsibilities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Each year since 2004, a new Horizon Report has been released. Each edition attempts to forecast the most promising technologies likely to impact on education along three horizons: the short term (the year of the report), the mid-term (the next 2 years) and the long term (the next 4 years). This paper analyzes the evolution of technology trends from 2004 to 2014 that correspond to the long-term predictions of the most recent Horizon Report. The study analyzes through bibliometric analysis which technologies were successful and became a regular part of education systems, which ones failed to have the predicted impact and why, and the shape of technology flows in recent years. The study also shows how the evolution and maturity of some technologies allowed the revival of expectations for others. The analysis here, which focuses on educational applications, offers guidelines that may be helpful to those seeking to invest in new research areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes the findings of an exploratory, qualitative case study and examines problems and impediments faculty members encountered in blended learning environments in Turkish Higher Education system. A total of 117 faculty members from 4 universities responded to 8 interview questions. Findings were based on content analyses of interview transcripts. The results show that faculty members’ problems with blended teaching resulted in the identification of three inductive categories: instructional processes, community concerns and technical issues. The eight themes emerged from these three categories include the following: (1) complexity of the instruction, (2) lack of planning and organization, (3) lack of effective communication, (4) need for more time, (5) lack of institutional support, (6) changing roles, (7) difficulty of adoption to new technologies and (8) lack of electronic means. This study indicates that teaching blended courses can be highly complex and have different teaching patterns, which, in turn, impacts successful implementation of the blended college courses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, prediction markets are presented as an innovative pedagogical tool which can be used to create a Rich Environment for Active Learning (REAL). Prediction markets are designed to make forecasts about specific future events by using a market mechanism to aggregate the information held by a large group of traders about that event into a single value. Prediction markets can be used to create decision scenarios which are linked to real-world events. The advantages of this approach in the cognitive and affective domains of learning are examined. The unique ability of prediction markets to enable active learning in large group teaching environments is explored. Building on this theoretical work, a detailed case study is presented describing how a prediction market can be deployed as a pedagogical tool in practice. Empirical evidence is presented exploring the effect prediction market participation has on learners in the cognitive domain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports on the design and the implementation of the Technological Pedagogical Science Knowledge (TPASK), a new model for science teachers professional development built on an integrated framework determined by the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model and the authentic learning approach. The TPASK curriculum dimensions and the related course sessions are also elaborated and applied in the context of a teacher trainers’ preparation program aiming at ICT integration in science classroom practice. A brief description of the project, its accomplishments, and perceptions of the participants, through the lens of TPASK professional development model, are presented. This is followed by the presentation of the evaluation results on the impact of the program which demonstrates that science teachers reported meaningful TPASK knowledge and increased willingness to adopt and apply this framework in their instruction. Finally, we draw on the need to expand TPACK by incorporating a fourth dimension, the Educational Context within Pedagogy, Content and Technology mutually interact, in order to address future policy models concerning teacher preparation to integrate ICT in education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For the net-generation students learning in a Web 2.0 world, research is often equated with Googling and approached with a mindset accustomed to cut-and-paste practices. Recognizing educators’ concern over such students’ learning dispositions on the one hand, and the educational affordances of blogging on the other, this study examines the use of blogging to initiate students into academic research at the tertiary level. It focuses on the experiences of three students from a third-year music class working on their research paper with blog-based supervision provided by the teacher. The course, in a hybrid fashion, combined face-to-face lectures and tutorials with blog sharing and discussion. The students’ individually-owned blogs were specifically used as their research diaries in which they logged in their work in progress, they then received input from both the teacher and fellow students. Based on the researcher’s self-evaluation of the teaching-supervising process, an analysis of the students’ blog discourse, and students’ survey feedback, this article offers useful insights and suggestions for educators interested in either using or researching on blogging as a means to develop students’ research skills and understanding. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we examine the transferability of the Jigsaw and Fishbowl collaborative learning techniques to the Second Life platform. Our aim is to assess the applicability of Second Life for collaborative learning by developing virtual tools and metaphors and exploiting the representational richness of this novel medium. In order to enhance the existing metaphors and affordances of SL, our research team implemented educational spaces, avatar clothing, and tools for non-verbal communication and visualisation. By implementing a blended learning evaluation approach we attempted to answer three research questions focusing on student collaboration, avatar representation and learning space awareness. We can conclude that SL can supplement and/or augment face to face interactions, improving upon previous approaches in distance collaboration and communication. Furthermore, although our team augmented SL’s ability to support collaborative learning, avatar representation does not seem to scale well. Finally, the majority of the implemented affordances and metaphors seem to have enhanced collaboration and learning space awareness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In 2001 Marc Prensky coined the phrase ‘digital natives’ to refer to the new generation of students who have grown up surrounded by technology. His companion papers spurred large amounts of research, debating changes that are required to curricula and pedagogical models to cater for the changes in the student population. This article reports on a study conducted in 2009 of more than 290 first year students at two South African universities. In this study, students were asked about their access to and use of technology. The results portrayed a heterogeneous student population, with varying levels of access to and use of most technologies. One of Prensky’s key features of a digital native is their excitement with Web 2.0 based technologies. Participants in this study however, appear not to use such technologies, and to not be interested in using them in their studies. One tool that students had high levels of access to (98.1%), and use of is the mobile phone. Out of all uses of technology surveyed, tasks involving the mobile phone were ranked in the top two positions. Also when asked to rank different uses of technology particularly for their studies, three of the top five uses relied on a mobile phone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a methodology for the design of intelligent learning environments. We recognise that in the educational technology field, theory development and system-design should be integrated and rely on an iterative process that addresses: (a) the difficulty to elicit precise, concise, and operationalised knowledge from ‘experts’ and (b) the crucial differences between the communication modalities that experts can relate to, and those that are available to a computer-based system. Inspired by the well-known wizard-of-Oz methodology we discuss the need for characterising and carefully controlling the range of its possible variations. We refer to our approach as ‘tapering’ of the communication capacity of carefully engineered didactical situations and present its application, and a case study from our work with an exploratory environment. We then discuss the generality of the methodology and pragmatic constraints which can be useful in similar research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

No school is an island; it is a part of a continuum or a pipeline of institutions which together form an educational pipeline through which groups of students pass. To turn a body of data into useful information for knowledge-based decision-making at any level, data must be collected, organised, analysed and reflected upon. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how schools and other educational institutions can not only collect better data but learn how to transform that data so that the information held within can be effectively shared among all stakeholders. This process will help to ensure that the school and the entire education system provide a more seamless and effective educational pipeline for students, and ultimately improve the quality of education delivered in the country as a whole. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With rapid emergence to the birth of the knowledge era, an active and interactive learning environment is fundamental to any teaching and learning process. Over time, negative implications of traditional learning environment are mounting, and measures must be taken to challenge it. With extensive research on available learning tools, it has become more feasible to provide our students with better learning opportunities. Such was the anticipation in the Malaysian educational context. Hence, this paper aims to address qualitative findings of a study on self-regulated learning strategies conveyed through the proposed interactive e-learning community (iELC). In duration of eight weeks, students (n =50) from regular national secondary schools were subjected to online learning tasks aimed to advance strategies on self-regulated learning. To date, strategies of self-regulated learning have been perceived as key to learner to succeed academically and after the schooling years. By means of semi-structured interview, data were collected from small group and one-to-one perception. Results were directed at the overall development of self-regulated learning strategies and its diffusion in the iELC discussion platform. Conclusively, these findings add significantly to the understanding of self-regulated learning strategies in an online learning environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Giving feedback on second language (L2) writing is a challenging task. This research proposed an interactive environment for error correction and corrective feedback. First, we developed an online corrective feedback and error analysis system called Online Annotator for EFL Writing. The system consisted of five facilities: Document Maker, Annotation Editor, Composer, Error Analyzer, and Viewer. With this system, teachers can mark error corrections on online documents and students can receive corrective feedback accordingly. The system also classifies and displays error types based on user query. Second, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this system. Fifty EFL (English as a Foreign Language) college freshmen were randomly assigned to two groups. The experimental group received corrective feedback with the developed system whereas the control group used the paper-based error correction method. After the treatment, students in both groups conducted corrective feedback activities by correcting the same document written by an EFL student. The experimental results were encouraging in that the analysis of students’ corrective feedback revealed significantly better performance in the experimental group on recognizing writing errors. Implications for further research are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we identify key challenges faced by computer-based assessment (CBA) in secondary education and we put forward a framework of design considerations: design with the students and teachers, select the most appropriate media platform and plan an evolution rather than a revolution of prior practices. We present the CBA application ‘MyTest’ which was developed using the participatory methodology We!Design, with the collaboration of 31 students and teachers. The application is targeted for the Tablet PC platform, provides “digital ink” capabilities and supports both closed-type and open questions, facilitating the transfer of traditional assessment practices to CBA. Both students and teachers were excited about the design sessions, and they asserted that they would rely more on educational software designed using this approach. The comparison of the ‘MyTest’ application with an assessment application developed with the same participatory methodology and the involvement of 40 undergraduate students revealed dissimilar expectations and needs of high school and undergraduate students that are often disguised or misinterpreted. A pilot evaluation of the application in real learning conditions was conducted with 31 students using Tablet PCs and with 37 students using traditional PCs. Interestingly, the Tablet PC platform rendered the ‘MyTest’ application more useful and usable to the students, validating our claims. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The integration of technology by K-12 teachers was promoted to aid the shift to a more student-centered classroom (e.g., Roblyer, M. D., & Edwards, J. (2000). Integrating educational technology into teaching (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill). However, growth in the power of and access to technology in schools has not been accompanied by an equal growth in technology integration. Research into reasons for minimal technology integration has traditionally focused on post-teacher-education barriers to technology integration (e.g., Ertmer, P. A. (2005). Teacher pedagogical beliefs: The final frontier in our quest for technology integration? Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 25–39; Ertmer, P. A., Gopalakrishnan, S., & Ross, E. M. (2001). Technology-using teachers: Comparing perceptions of exemplary use to best practice [Electronic copy]. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33(3) 1–2; Hew, K. F., & Brush, T. (2007). Integrating technology into K-12 teaching and learning: Current knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 55(3), 223–252). In this paper, I first clarify the definition of technology integration and question the contention that barriers, particularly those related to teacher beliefs, are behind the lack of technology integration. Using the sociological concept of habitus, or set of dispositions, I then explore preservice teachers’ past experiences as a possible explanation for minimal technology integration and discuss implications for future research and teacher education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There is a wealth of evidence that collaboration between learners can enhance the outcomes for all concerned. This supports the theorization of learning as a socio-cultural practice, framed by Vygotsky and developed by other researchers such as Rogoff, Lave and Wenger. However, there is also evidence that working collaboratively may not be a spontaneous response to working in a group, and that teaching learners how to collaborate, and in particular how to work together to negotiate meaning, is a necessary part of the process of learning collaboratively which can enhance outcomes further. A question for the computer supported collaborative learning community then arises as to whether learning to collaborate can be scaffolded through the use of digital tools, and what such tools might look like. This paper reports on the design of a digital system that aims to support the practice of face-to-face collaboration on open-ended tasks. Findings from trials of the system in classrooms in the UK and Chile show that the model is welcomed both by teachers and pupils, and met its objectives of ensuring greater interaction between class members who did not normally work together, and involvement of all individuals in discussion based activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To illustrate the conditions under which successful innovation adoption takes place, this paper focuses on the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) through emerging communities in schools. Two types of such communities are described in terms of the degree of participation in the implementation: school-wide communities and enclaves. The article describes implementation practices in four primary schools with reported high ICT use, selected as case-studies. Four criteria, reflecting the domain, personnel relationships, policy and implementation goals and strategies, as well as staff consistency, are employed to outline the existence and types of communities of implementation within these schools. Findings indicate that, although both school-wide communities and enclaves are present in successful schools, enclaves – compared to school-wide communities – are related to lower levels of implementation. Based on these findings the authors discuss policy directions towards the development of school-wide communities as a purposeful implementation strategy to help transition ICT institutionalization from the initiation to the habitualization stage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports the results of a study of the extent to which processes and procedures from the discipline of project management can scaffold online project-based learning in a graduate-level instructional technology course, by facilitating intra-team interaction, enhancing project outcomes and promoting a positive project team experience. With one course section using tools and templates from project management and one section using only free-form text forms and instructor guidelines as project scaffolding tools, team interactions were compared via qualitative and quantitative analyses of team threaded discussions over an 8-week project lifecycle. Project outcomes were assessed by comparing project product scores using the t-test for independent samples, while project experience was assessed via a post-project survey using the University of Wisconsin-Madison Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) questionnaire. Results indicate that the project management methodology facilitates intra-team communication and positive collaborative behavior, but is not a critical factor for final product quality. The results provide a starting point for educators and researchers seeking to assess cross-disciplinary approaches to project-based learning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes the motivation, proposal, and early prototype testing of a computer tool for story visualisation. An analysis of current software for making various types of visual story is made; this identifies a gap between software which emphasises preset banks of artwork, and software which emphasises low-level construction and/or drawing. A proposal is made to fill this gap, and a prototype implementation of the proposal is described in the context of a school-based study with England and Wales’s Year 5, covering ages 9–10 years. Results from this prototype study both validate the novel proposal made and demonstrate that children are capable of manipulating characters and notional camera angles in a more complex way than most current software permits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports on a failed experiment to use Wiki technology to support student engagement with the subject matter of a third year undergraduate module. Using qualitative data, the findings reveal that in an educational context, social technologies such as Wiki’s, are perceived differently compared with ordinary personal use and this discourages student adoption. A series of insights are then offered which help HE teachers understand the pitfalls of integrating social technologies in educational contexts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The efficiency of teaching algorithms can be highly improved by utilizing the senses as educational aids. The authors have developed a new didactical method and a software tool which exemplifies, for the case of simple algorithms, how the involvement of eyesight, hearing and the kinaesthesia can help in the teaching and learning process. This paper also gives a detailed description of a didactical experiment which proves empirically the efficiency of this new approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we present eTeacher, an intelligent agent that provides personalized assistance to e-learning students. eTeacher observes a student’s behavior while he/she is taking online courses and automatically builds the student’s profile. This profile comprises the student’s learning style and information about the student’s performance, such as exercises done, topics studied, exam results. In our approach, a student’s learning style is automatically detected from the student’s actions in an e-learning system using Bayesian networks. Then, eTeacher uses the information contained in the student profile to proactively assist the student by suggesting him/her personalized courses of action that will help him/her during the learning process. eTeacher has been evaluated when assisting System Engineering students and the results obtained thus far are promising. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Technology-enhanced learning environments (TELEs) deliver instructional content and provide an array of scaffolding features designed to support independent student learning. TELEs also support teacher efforts to guide student inquiry within these sometimes complex environments. Self-efficacy, defined by Bandura [Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71–81). New York: Academic Press] as a person’s beliefs about his capabilities is also known to influence student academic performance in a learning environment. This paper discusses the potential importance of designing scaffolds in TELEs that intentionally promote academic self-efficacy. We advocate for designing asynchronous Audio/Visual tools into TELEs to promote student self-efficacy and ultimately performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The current development approaches for e-learning systems fail to explain in a clear and consistent way the pedagogical principles that support them. Moreover, decisions with regard to the structuration of each component proposed by these approaches are mainly taken by the designer/developer. As a result, the ensuing e-learning systems reflect “common sense” rather than a theoretically informed and systematic design. The present paper proposes a global architecture model for any e-learning system whose blocks are extracted from the analysis of the main approaches that currently guide the development of these kinds of systems. We use Kipling’s famous questions to define and structure the blocks of the proposed model, and we base the answers to these questions on two disciplines that are closed to e-learning: presential education (i.e., its pedagogical theories) and knowledge management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper provided a content analysis of studies in the field of cognition in e-learning that were published in five Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) journals (i.e. Computers and Education, British Journal of Educational Technology, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, Educational Technology Research &Development, and Journal of Computer Assisted Learning) from 2001 to 2005. Among the 1027 articles published in these journals from 2001 to 2005, 444 articles were identified as being related to the topic of cognition in e-learning. These articles were cross analyzed by published years, journal, research topic, and citation count. Furthermore, 16 highly-cited articles across different topics were chosen for further analysis according to their research settings, participants, research design types, and research methods. It was found from the analysis of the 444 articles that “Instructional Approaches,” “Learning Environment,” and “Metacognition” were the three most popular research topics, but the analysis of the citation counts suggested that the studies related to “Instructional Approaches,” “Information Processing” and “Motivation” might have a greater impact on subsequent research. Although the use of questionnaires might still be the main method of gathering research data in e-learning cognitive studies, a clear trend was observed that more and more studies were utilizing learners’ log files or online messages as data sources for analysis. The results of the analysis provided insights for educators and researchers into research trends and patterns of cognition in e-learning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Previous research of adaptive learning mainly focused on improving student learning achievements based only on single-source of personalization information, such as learning style, cognitive style or learning achievement. In this paper, an innovative adaptive learning approach is proposed by basing upon two main sources of personalization information, that is, learning behavior and personal learning style. To determine the initial learning styles of the students, the [Keefe, J. W. (1987). Learning Styles: Theory and Practice. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals.] questionnaire is employed in our approach. To more precisely reflect the learning behaviors of each student, the interactions and learning results of each student are analyzed when adjusting the subject materials. Based on the innovative approach, an adaptive learning system has been developed; moreover, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of our approach. By analyzing the results from three groups of students using different adaptive learning approaches, it can be found that the innovative approach is helpful in improving both the learning achievement and learning efficiency of individual students. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on data collected from a middle school, this study investigates how the quantity and quality of technology use affect student learning outcomes. Specifically, this study examines how technologies are used by students, what technology uses are popular among students, and what technology uses are effective for increasing student academic achievement. Results suggest that the quantity of technology use alone is not critical to student learning. “How much” matters when “how” is identified. Moreover, when the quality of technology use is not ensured, more time on computers may cause more harm than benefit. With students’ change in GPA as an indicator, technology uses that had positive impact on students were those related to specific subject areas and focused on student construction. In addition, analysis of the frequency of technology uses found that, in general, technology uses that had positive impact were not popular; on the contrary, some of these technology uses were the least frequently used. Implications for practice and future research are discussed in this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]