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Background: The use of e‐exams in higher education is increasing. However, the role of student diversity in the acceptance of e‐exams is an under‐researched topic. In the current study, we considered student diversity in terms of three sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, and second language) and three dispositional student characteristics (computer anxiety, test anxiety, and technology openness). Objectives: The main objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between student diversity and acceptance of e‐exams. Methods: Our research combined cross‐sectional analyses (N = 1639) with data from a natural experiment on the introduction of e‐exams versus the established paper‐pencil exams (N = 626) and used both self‐report and institutional data. Sociodemographic and dispositional characteristics were indirectly related to pre‐exam acceptance via expectancy variables from the Technology Acceptance Model framework. Results and Conclusions: Comparisons of post‐exam acceptance showed that practical experience with the e‐exam led to a significant increase in e‐exam acceptance, and that students with low openness toward technology particularly benefited from this effect. Students' exam performance (i.e., grades) was unrelated to the exam format or their pre‐exam acceptance of the e‐exam format, and this was true across students' sociodemographic and dispositional characteristics. Takeaway: Student diversity plays a role in e‐exam acceptance, but its influence is mitigated by first‐hand experience with e‐exams. The practical implications for higher education institutions aiming to implement e‐exams are discussed. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The use of e‐exams in higher education is increasingThe role of student diversity for e‐exam acceptance is unclearTechnology acceptance is predicted by expectancies towards new system What this paper adds: We investigated students' sociodemographic and dispositional diversityDiversity predicted e‐exam acceptance via the expectanciesIn a natural experiment, first‐hand experience increased e‐exam acceptanceNo difference between performance in e‐exams and paper‐pencil‐exams found Implications of the study findings for practitioners: Higher education institutions implementing e‐exams should consider diversitySupport for older students and students with low technology openness neededNo student groups systematically disadvantaged by e‐exam implementationPractice rooms can increase experience with new system before exam [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Delivering effective feedback to large groups of students represents a challenge for the academic staff at universities. Research suggests that undergraduate students often ignore the Elaborated Feedback (EF) received via digital learning environments. This may be because instructors provide feedback in written format instead of using more engaging channels (e.g., audiovisual). Objectives: This quasi‐experimental study examines the extent to which feedback format (video vs. written) influences students' perceptions of feedback, their decision to access EF messages related to high‐stakes assignments in digital environments, and its impact on academic performance, while considering the effect of their academic engagement. Methods: A total of 171 undergraduate students received generic EF messages through a learning platform the day after submitting each course assignment. 78 students received EF in written format and 93 in video format. Results and Conclusions: Our results showed that feedback format influenced students' decision to access EF and their academic performance, but not their feedback perceptions. Students in the written‐feedback group accessed EF messages more often, but students who received video‐feedback performed better than their counterparts in the written‐feedback group. Moderation analysis showed that the relationship between the feedback format and students' academic performance was moderated by their academic engagement, suggesting that students with lower levels of academic engagement may benefit from video‐feedback. Takeaways: The results reveal that using video feedback in digital environments may influence students' decisions to process EF and their academic achievement, especially when it comes to students with lower levels of academic engagement. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Delivering Elaborated Feedback (EF) to large groups of students represents a challenge for instructors.Undergraduate students often ignore the EF received via digital learning environments.Students usually prefer audiovisual formats to receive feedback compared to the written format.Results in regard to whether video‐feedback is best for learning are inconclusive. What this paper adds: A quasi‐experimental study to compare two feedback formats (video and written) in an ecologically valid setup.Data of students' voluntary decisions to process EF related to high‐stakes assignments.The moderating effect of students' academic engagement on the relationship between feedback format and academic performance. The implications of study findings for practitioners: Students positively value the EF received in both video and written formats.Students may not engage with EF as expected even when provided in audiovisual formats.Students may access written‐EF more frequently than video‐EF.Video‐EF may positively influence academic performance when students have low levels of academic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The global COVID‐19 pandemic turned the adoption of on‐line assessment in the institutions for higher education from possibility to necessity. Thus, in the end of Fall 20/21 semester Tel Aviv University (TAU)—the largest university in Israel—designed and implemented a scalable procedure for administering proctored remote examinations. This procedure is applicable to different kinds of examinations in diverse disciplines and to disparate degree levels. Objectives: This study aims to deepen the knowledge with respect to the design and adoption of remote proctoring at an institutional level Methods: First, based on lessons learned from the first semester of COVID‐19, we describe the development and implementation of an institution‐wide protocol for conducting on‐line proctored assessment. We show the large‐scale applicability of the protocol for administering examinations via Moodle with remote proctoring via Zoom. The accurately designed procedures that included careful consideration of all parties involved—academic staff members, students, administrative staff and proctors—enabled TAU to successfully assess the learning outcomes of its 25,000 students, while maintaining validity, compatibility and reliability of the assessment. Second, we report combined data from surveys of 4380 students and 188 faculty‐members (18% and 12% response rate respectively), conducted at TAU following these examinations. Results and Conclusions: With over 90% of the students experiencing at least one, and 80% of faculty‐members administering at least one proctored remote examination, these heterogeneous sources of data allow us to investigate a unique and complementary perspective of the process. Some of the significant findings consist of the over‐all perception of the students' integrity by both groups surveyed; the discrepancy in the groups' perspectives of the adequate form of learning‐assessment—with the instructors preferring proctored examinations and the students—formative‐assessment; and the influence of the pedagogical challenges on the perception of validity that outweighed other factors, for example, the pandemic‐related stress, the on‐line assessment challenges and other. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Proctoring exams remotely is challenging, due to technical, ethical and other concerns.Proctoring can be conducted remotely by a human, record and review later technology, automated algorithms to detect atypical behaviour.Different methods for remote proctoring in higher education have been implemented on small scale. What this paper adds: Review of studies examining various facets of remote proctoring before and during COVID‐19.A protocol for remote proctoring in a large‐scale university, based on the first post COVID‐19 semester.The perspectives of students and faculty members regarding testing with remote proctoring. Implications for future practice and/or policy: The protocol can assist higher education institutions in developing their own guidelines.The implementation should take into consideration ethical norms and constitutional limitations.Unlike automated process using algorithms, remote human proctoring is not widely opposed by students.Further research comparing remotely proctored exam performance with the f2f proctoring is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID‐19 crisis, digital informal learning is important for students' academic engagement. Although scholars have highlighted the importance of students' digital competence in improving digital informal learning (DIL), the mediating role of DIL between digital competence and academic engagement has remained ambiguous. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between students' digital competence and their academic engagement with the mediating role of DIL in the higher education context. This study used a descriptive correlational design, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The study sample included 308 students from Shiraz University, Iran. The results showed that digital competence positively and significantly correlated with students' DIL and their academic engagement. Furthermore, DIL, as the mediator variable, was found to mediate the relationship between students' digital competence and their academic engagement. Since higher education institutions have a key role in improving students' academic engagement, particularly in the COVID‐19 pandemic, academic administrators should pay more attention to students' digital competencies and provide them with efficient and user‐friendly DIL platforms that can increase their academic engagement. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: One of the challenges of online learning environments is students' engagement especially in the COVID‐19 crisis.The role of digital informal learning (DIL) in the students' engagement is ambiguous.Little work has been done to support the relationship between digital competence, DIL and academic engagement. What this paper adds: The structural equation model of academic engagement, digital competence, and DIL was examined.There is a significant relationship between digital competence and DIL of students.The engagement of students will increase both with the use of digital competencies and DIL. Implications for practice and/or policy: Administrators should provide efficient DIL platforms to increase students' academic engagement.Educators should consider students' digital competencies to increase their academic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the increasingly challenging resource environments in many business schools, this study examined whether course technologies, learner behaviors or instructor behaviors best predict online course outcomes so that administrators and support personnel can prioritize their efforts and investments. Based on reviewing prior online and blended management education literature, we hypothesized that instructor behaviors would be most predictive of online course outcomes. However, our study of 48 online Master of Business Administration courses found that although instructor behaviors (operationalized as teaching presence) was the strongest predictor of any of our three outcome variables (perceived learning), only student behaviors (operationalized as social presence) significantly predicted all three (course grades, perceived learning and delivery medium satisfaction). Technological characteristics, operationalized using variables from the technology acceptance model and media variety, predicted perceived learning (perceived ease of use) and delivery medium satisfaction (perceived usefulness). The paper provides recommendations for instructors and administrators based on the findings, specifically advocating for a balance between instructor and administrator involvement in course design, presentation and conduct. The paper concludes by describing research opportunities regarding the roles of social presence in and collaborative approaches to online learning in business schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary goal of this study is to create and test a lecture-capture system that can rearrange visual elements while recording is still taking place, in such a way that student performance can be positively influenced. The system we have devised is capable of integrating and rearranging multimedia sources, including learning content, the instructor and students' images, into lecture videos that are embedded in a website for students to review after school. The present study employed a two-group experimental design, with 153 participants (145 females and 8 males) making up an experimental group in which lecture courses were recorded using the new lecture-capture system, and 149 participants (140 females and 9 males) forming a control group whose lectures were recorded by traditional means. All participants were in the freshman college and studying Introduction to Computer and Information Science in one of six classes, and were randomly assigned to one of the two groups. The participants' midterm examination and final examination scores were collected as indicators of their academic performance, with their mathematics entrance scores used as a pre-test. The findings obtained from analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) suggest that appropriate rearrangement of visual elements in lecture videos can significantly impact students' learning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the steady development of online education and online learning environments, possibilities to support social interactions between students have advanced significantly. This study examined the relationship between indicators of social presence and academic performance. Social presence is defined as students' ability to engage socially with an online learning community. The results of a multiple regression analysis showed that certain indicators of social presence were significant predictors of final grades in a master's level computer science online course. Moreover, the study also revealed that teaching presence moderated the association between social presence and academic performance, indicating that a course design that increased the level of meaningful interactions between students had a significant impact on the development of social presence, and thus could positively affect students' academic performance. This is especially important in situations when discussions are introduced to promote the development of learning outcomes assessed in courses. Another implication of our results is that indicators of social presence can be used for early detection of students at risk of failing a course. Findings inform research and practice in the emerging field of learning analytics by prompting the opportunities to offer actionable insights into the reasons why certain students are lagging behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, Web 2.0 technologies in higher education are evaluated using students' perceptions, satisfaction, performance and behaviour. The study evaluates the Web 2.0 tools as stand-alone entities as well in terms of their cross-operability and integration (confluence) to synergistic contributions towards the enhancement of student learning. Significant correlations and interdependencies on the students' behaviour over the used platform and their performance in various time points within the course time line have been revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]