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Background: Degree apprenticeships (DA) help employees gain new knowledge and skills by allowing them to study towards a university degree while working full time. For these programmes to be effective, the learning design should be adapted to the needs of these students, who are goal oriented (i.e. they want to gain only knowledge that can be applied within their workplace), have limited time for studying, and usually have not attended formal education for some time. As these programmes are relatively new, there is limited research on how these students can be supported to achieve the programmes' learning goals by using information and communication technologies. Objectives: This paper aims to understand whether a learning design that combines game‐based learning with online flipped classrooms can engage DA students in their learning and help them develop their reflective skills. Methods: Two focus groups were conducted with DA students that study at a UK Business School towards gaining the Chartered Manager status. The focus groups recordings have been analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results and Conclusions: The three main themes, "change can be helpful and challenging at the same time", "the ideal game", and "the effect of others", show that DA students find game‐based learning and online flipped classrooms useful, with the right support. Simulation games can be more fulfilling to DA students than quiz games, even if they take more of their out‐of‐class time. In addition, instructors are advised to work more closely with diverse teams to enable students share their work experiences and learn from each other. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Online flipped classrooms offer flexibility in learning, but instructors need to find solutions to challenges, like students' limited e‐learning readiness and lack of motivation.Game‐based learning has been found to facilitate learning in general, but there is a need to identify the specific circumstances (i.e. settings, gaming elements) under which it is effective.Degree apprenticeship students need more support with their learning compared to traditional university students, as they face additional challenges in terms of family life‐work balance and connecting their learning to their working experience. What this paper adds?: Game‐based learning can be useful to degree apprenticeship students providing that focuses on the application of knowledge and provides feedback.Despite facing challenges related to maintaining work‐study‐life balance, degree apprenticeship students are willing to complete the flipped classroom's out‐of‐class activities, if they see a clear benefit from doing so.Online group activities can be challenging for degree apprenticeship students, if they are not able to form teams with other learners that work for the same organisation. The implications of study findings for practitioners: Avoid quiz‐like games and select the ones that use real‐life scenarios for degree apprenticeship students to help them link their learning to their practice.Formative feedback should be provided by both the instructor and the game to motivate degree apprenticeship students to spend the additional time to complete the out‐of‐class activities.Students should be reminded frequently of the purpose of any new learning elements (e.g. learning analytics) as they may not have the time to explore them on their own.When forming student teams based on students' workplace is not possible, spend more time in each breakout room to facilitate the online group discussion and help students bring their different working experiences together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Study: Technology‐supported learning environments, act as significant observational and enabling indicators for evaluating and encouraging the digital revolution of education, are of vital importance in current educational research. Keeping track of the dynamics of technology‐supported learning environment research allows for the enrichment of theoretical studies and a prompt innovation of talent‐training environments. Objectives: The present study carried out a bibliometric analysis of the core collection of WoS database over the last two decades. Method: This study is a bibliometric research. We applied CiteSpace and VOSviewer for co‐occurrence and evolution analysis. In addition, we extracted the fundamental ideas and thoughts through reading and analysis. Results: First, the study found that technology‐supported learning environment research is in a growth phase, with core journals such as Interactive Learning Environments or Computers & Education. The findings show that a core research team comprised of such scholars as Hwang Gwo‐Jen, Lester James C. and Wong Lung‐Hsiang. Key nations of publishing and research strength are from China, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Second, the hot topics in research on technology‐supported learning environments were virtual learning environments, technology‐enabled learning environments and interactive learning environments. Nine study specifics were derived from these three topics such as moulding function, generating scenario, stimulating sensation, effect verification, design idea, research reflection, inquiry and research, virtual community, and mixed environment. Lastly, the frontier evolution offers a pattern of development from enhancing performance to changing mode to incorporating experience. Conclusion: Looking ahead, our research recommendations for the field of technology‐supported learning environments include a multifaceted approach. We should aim to enhance research designs and methodologies, develop contemporary guiding theories and strive for a balanced representation across various educational domains, expanding our scope to encompass all academic disciplines. In terms of practical application, it is imperative to focus on the design and implementation of technology‐supported learning environments from three critical perspectives: "change‐demand," "student‐learning" and "online‐offline." These approaches will collectively ensure that technology‐supported learning environments are both innovative and responsive to the diverse needs of the educational landscape. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Technology‐supported learning environments are currently a focal and hot research topic in the field of education.Although numerous studies have been conducted on the learning environment of technical support, there has yet to be a systematic and comprehensive review of the related research. What this paper adds: This study provides a comprehensive review of research on the technology‐supported learning environments over the past two decades.This study primarily presents an overview of research on the technology‐supported learning environments over the past two decades, focusing on main literature, research strength, hot topics and frontier evolution. Implications for practice and/or policy: Researchers need to further advance research on technology‐supported learning environments by enriching research designs and methods, constructing up‐to‐date guiding theories and achieving a balance across different educational domains while extending the reach to all disciplines.Educational practitioners need to pay attention to the design and implementation of technology‐supported learning environments from the three viewpoints of "change‐demand," "student‐learning" and "online‐offline." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The long‐standing debate into the potential benefit of developing mathematical thinking skills through learning to program has been reignited with the widespread introduction of programming in schools across many countries, including England where it is a statutory requirement for all pupils to be taught programming from 5 years old. Algorithm is introduced early in the English computing curriculum, yet there is limited knowledge of how young pupils view this concept. This paper explores pupils' (aged 10–11) understandings of algorithm following their engagement with 1 year of ScratchMaths, a curriculum designed to develop computational and mathematical thinking skills through learning to program. A total of 181 pupils from 6 schools undertook a set of written tasks to assess their interpretations and evaluations of different algorithms that solve the same problem, with a subset of these pupils subsequently interviewed to probe their understandings in greater depth. We discuss the different approaches identified, the evaluation criteria they used, and the aspects of the concept that pupils found intuitive or challenging, such as simplification and abstraction. The paper ends with some reflections on the implications of the research, concluding with a set of recommendations for pedagogy in developing primary pupils' algorithmic thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Tablets have much to offer children with learning difficulties, but evidence of their effectiveness to teach academic skills is limited and cannot be easily separated from the quality of the software. This paper analyses data from 3 iterative cycles of designing an app for children with Down syndrome to support their awareness of quantity through an inclusive game. Research with neurotypical children suggests that representation of quantity (or magnitude) is an area with considerable potential in supporting the foundations for children's mathematical learning. It has received little attention as an aspect for intervention for children with Down syndrome. Data collected in this study illustrate the need to carefully align the game mechanic to the target skills, strengthen levels of access, and introduce gradations of attentional demand. They also signal the interrelationship between children's cognitive and affective responses to the game, making it essential to find the optimal level of challenge. Children's strategies in response to mistakes indicate the importance of creating an agile responsive system. The data also suggest that developers routinely extend the number of features that are optional, enabling a greater level of personalization and a more inclusive game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Digital educational games research tends to lack ecological validity by not adequately taking into account the views and perspectives of children and young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This paper is a pilot study that explores and analyses an academic‐based educational game that was co‐designed with and for young people with ASD. The serious game aims to help the players learn Geography‐specific knowledge and integrates several strategic features so that users can collaborate together against the computer or compete against each other. The educational game was evaluated over 5 sessions by 3 peer teams from 2 different special educational institutions, involving a total of 6 students with ASD. The participants were positive about their enjoyment, motivation, and social engagement. The results showed that the players' level of competitiveness not only influenced the experience within the game but also the interaction within the peer teams. The game mechanisms did help the participants with ASD increase their knowledge in Geography content. The main conclusion is that there are considerable benefits of including children with ASD in the design process and future research should explore more fully on how their involvement can enhance curriculum‐based learning as well as social engagement within the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an empirical study that takes a multimodal analytical approach to examine how mobile technologies shape students' exploration and experience of place during a history learning activity in situ. In history education, mobile technologies provide opportunities for authentic experiential learning activities that have the potential to re-mediate students' understanding of space and place through enacted interaction, and to make the learning more memorable. A key question is how learners work with the physical and digital information in the context of that learning experience, and how this supports new experiences and understanding of space and place. Findings suggest that embodied mobile experiences foster the creation of both physical and digital markers, which were instrumental in concretizing the history experience and developing new narratives. The findings also show how different representational forms of digital information mediated interaction in specific ways and how digital augmentation can lead to conflation in student understanding of space and time. These findings inform our understanding of the value of mobile applications in supporting embodied learning experiences and provide key implications for pedagogical design, both in situ and back in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]