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The incorporation of computer technology in higher education has experienced substantial expansion and evolution in recent years. This study aims to examine the possibilities and problems that emerge throughout the integration process. Through an analysis of the multifaceted components associated with integrating computer technology within higher education, this study attempts to elucidate the prospective advantages and challenges encountered by educational institutions, instructors, and learners. The study relies on an examination of pertinent academic literature, case studies, and empirical research. This study identifies and assesses various significant opportunities, such as accessibility to educational resources, personalized learning experiences, enhanced engagement and collaboration, and the acquisition of crucial digital skills that arise from the integration of computer technology. Furthermore, this study delves into the possible beneficial implications of computer technology on the efficacy of institutions, cost-efficiency, and administrative functions. Incorporating computer technology in higher education poses several challenges, such as the digital gap, concerns about privacy and data security, the necessity for faculty training and support, alterations in pedagogy, and the possible diversions that may arise due to technology that require careful consideration. The study suggests a thorough examination of the many opportunities and challenges that are involved with technological integration in higher education.

Online teaching has become an imperative approach in today's society. However, as an essential approach, using live streaming to teach students in small groups, particularly rural primary school students, has not been extensively studied. To address this gap, an inquiry-based model, predict-do/observe-quiz/discuss-explain-transfer (P-D/O-Q/D-E-T), was adopted for live streaming with action, and its performance was analysed. Reflection by teachers can lead them to a deeper understanding to capture the profound impact of an educational program. In the present study, eight teachers who had experience assisting rural students in this experiment were invited to rate their points of view on immersion, social interactivity, humanness, and value perception. Examining the consistency of teachers' viewpoints using the hermeneutic method, the results showed that they highly supported viewing these four constructs using live streaming to conduct inquiry-based science learning with action. As expected, using live streaming to deliver teaching with the P-D/O-Q/D-E-T approach can enrich other online science teaching.

Despite vast improvements in technology infrastructure and classroom technology implementation across Malaysia, there still remain teachers who fail to seamlessly integrate technology in their lessons. Potential explanations for this behaviour span from low self-efficacy and computer anxiety to personal attitudes and beliefs. Technology has been shown to aid learning and even contribute to an improvement in standardized test results when integrated into the curriculum in a meaningful manner. This study investigates the causes for the reluctance to integrate technology in classrooms. It also looks into whether it can be understood from teachers' attitudes towards computers or from their constructivist teaching beliefs. A correlational research study was conducted with 135 pre-service teachers from 3 public Malaysian universities. Multiple regression analysis was performed to establish the predictive value of the variables. Our analysis showed that teachers' attitudes towards computers can directly predict how likely they are to incorporate technology in their lessons. However, constructivist beliefs did not predict pre-service teachers' intention to use technology in the classroom. Additional analysis and t-test found that female teachers were significantly less likely to want to incorporate technology in their lessons when compared to males. We concluded that when teachers' attitudes towards computers are more positive, they are more likely to use technology in their future lessons. However, this may not apply across the board, with female teachers appearing less likely to utilise technology when compared with male teachers.

With the advent of online gaming becoming such an inherent part of popular culture, the issue of toxicity, particularly in online competitive games, has never been more relevant. In the /all chat, however, where communication between players of opposing teams is expected to be hostile, there have been debates in community forums about whether that type of communication constitutes as toxicity or another form of aggressive discourse, trash-talking. Because both concepts have never been reconciled together in past studies, this study attempts to develop a preliminary framework using categories and definitions from prior studies of each discourse, for the purpose of analyzing instances of toxicity and trash-talking in the /all chat. Thus, a total of 26 /all chat logs from the Southeast Asian server of the online competitive game "Dota 2" were procured. Using content analysis, the /all chat logs were then coded for toxic and trash-talking instances to determine how they are manifested among players in the /all chat with key reference to context. It was found that toxic instances occurred rarely in the /all chat and were mostly derived from in-fighting between players of the same team. Trash-talking particularly dominated the /all chat and though the talk appears unpleasant, it is representative of an aggressive discourse with competitive stakes. Finally, new types and categories were also found and documented for each discourse, further contributing to the existing literature of both toxicity and trash-talking.

Open and distance learning (ODL) activities aim to meet the expectations and needs of different individuals, societies, and systems by ensuring the continuation of learning with a lifelong learning philosophy and an egalitarian policy for everyone, regardless of time and place. Support services, which address the differentiated expectations and needs in all learning-related activities, serve the learning processes and the various stakeholders involved. Therefore, technical support services are included in support activities that require the use of technology as a tool, mediator, or technique in learning processes. In this study, ODL systems that are situated in digital space are examined within the scope of technical support services in line with the threats and dangers of the developing and expanding digital space. The aim is to create a technical support service model based on Herbert Simon's Bounded Rationality Theory and Otto Peters' Industrialization Theory, to ensure cybersecurity in ODL systems. In this study, which adopted a case study as one of the qualitative research methods, documents in the literature were examined first. Considering the literature, the opinions of eight field experts were gathered by ten interview questions. After the semi-structured interviews were transcribed, the data obtained were divided into codes and themes through thematic analysis. The findings stressed the importance of institutional culture, distribution of tasks and responsibilities, administrative support, institutional awareness, cybersecurity training, and the use of different technologies to ensure cybersecurity in ODL systems. Additionally, the experts emphasized a common view that smart systems should be used in the provision and maintenance of cybersecurity.

The COVID-19 epidemic has impacted higher education institutions across the country by switching traditional teaching practices to online learning. The attitudes of students towards elearning are essential to research in order to determine the extent to which successful implementation of online learning. Thus, this research aims to evaluate the attitudes of Indonesian students towards e-learning throughout the pandemic. The study adopted a quantitative research approach through a survey questionnaire. The attitude of students was evaluated using the attitude scale towards e-learning. The questionnaire comprised 20 items assessing students' attitudes towards remote learning. A questionnaire was distributed to 342 (255 female and 87 male) undergraduate students who took online courses at an Indonesian state university. The statistical analyses including descriptive statistics, t-tests and one-way ANOVA were used in the present study. The results suggested that students' e-learning attitudes tend to be neutral. The ttest and ANOVA indicated that there was no statistically significant gap in students' attitudes with respect to gender, daily internet usage time or level of COVID-19. Meanwhile, age, study year and personal computer ownership exerted a statistically significant impact on e-learning attitudes. Teachers can better prepare for the adoption of online learning during COVID-19 and beyond by using the valuable insights provided by the findings.

Background: Mindfulness practices enhance executive function skills and academic achievement, spurring interest in integrating mindfulness interventions into education. Embedding mindfulness practice into a digital math game may provide a low-cost, scalable way to induce mindfulness and boost game-based learning, yet this approach remains unexplored. Objectives: We investigated the learning benefits of integrating mindfulness exercises in a digital math learning game and examined how students' trait mindfulness might moderate the outcomes. Methods: Two classroom studies were conducted with 404 5th and 6th grade students from six public schools in the U.S. (n[subscript Study 1] = 227, n[subscript Study 2] = 177). The two randomized controlled experiments assigned students to one of the three conditions: passive control (playing the digital learning game "Decimal Point"), story-enriched active control, or mindfulness-enriched condition. Trait mindfulness, learning gains, and in-game problem-solving (including problem-solving duration, error count and correctness after reminder) were assessed. Study 2 included a manipulation check to better understand the effects of the mindfulness intervention. Results: Findings showed no significant differences in learning gains, problem-solving duration or error count among the conditions. Students' trait mindfulness did not moderate these outcomes. Mindfulness reminders in the mindfulness-enriched game led to more correct answers after errors than jokes in the story-enriched game. Study 2 revealed that we failed to induce higher state mindfulness through the mindfulness inductions. Conclusions: Mindfulness prompts could be especially beneficial for students experiencing frustration during gameplay, warranting more exploration for digital game-based instruction. We highlight barriers and future directions for fostering mindfulness through computer-based instruction in classrooms.

Primary school children frequently use digital devices, which can be infected by computer viruses. In this mixed methods paper with two studies (N = 278 + 114), we examined 8-year-olds' preconceptions about computer viruses and protection against them; how to teach these children about said topics using three different, 30-min-long, content-equivalent lessons; and what knowledge the children can acquire. We found that participants had limited prior knowledge of computer viruses and almost no knowledge about protection against them. However, they rarely had misconceptions. They learnt, and retained over a month, key general points and a few specific points about this domain. Acquired knowledge was still somewhat patchy, most likely represented in 'pieces' rather than as complex, theory-like chunks. Nevertheless, all three approaches produced notable learning gains (d > 1.78). A lesson organized around a narrative 5-min video and six < 1 min video snippets was the most effective: compared to a lesson organized around two 5-min videos (d = 0.89) and a teacher-led lesson without videos (d = 0.54). The findings are consistent with contemporary instructional design theories and 'knowledge in pieces' conceptual change frameworks. They imply that the topic of computer viruses should be included in second-graders' curricula.

We report preliminary results of computer vision analysis of caregiver-child interactions during free play with children diagnosed with autism (N = 29, 41-91 months), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, N = 22, 48-100 months), or combined autism + ADHD (N = 20, 56-98 months), and neurotypical children (NT, N = 7, 55-95 months). We conducted micro-analytic analysis of 'reaching to a toy,' as a proxy for initiating or responding to a toy play bout. Dyadic analysis revealed two clusters of interaction patterns, which differed in frequency of 'reaching to a toy' and caregivers' contingent responding to the child's reach for a toy by also reaching for a toy. Children in dyads with higher caregiver responsiveness had less developed language, communication, and socialization skills. Clusters were not associated with diagnostic groups. These results hold promise for automated methods of characterizing caregiver responsiveness in dyadic interactions for assessment and outcome monitoring in clinical trials.

Open-source hardware and software platforms have played an important role in democratizing access to technology and education in computer science and engineering. Recent advancements in tools, such as KiCad, MicroPython, and Thonny, integrated development environment potentially accelerate low-budget educational applications, providing a smooth and consistent learning curve for users. The BitDogLab, utilizing these platforms, is designed and developed for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics activities based on the Raspberry Pi Pico Board, featuring artificial intelligence (AI)-supported programming via the GPT model. BitDogLab is an open-source hardware solution with a flexible design for continuous expansion in both software and hardware areas. Its functionality, based on open-source code, can be enhanced by integrating various software resources. Additionally, BitDogLab's adaptability to sophisticated hardware like robotic systems or advanced sensors expands its educational applications. An evaluation of BitDogLab, conducted through a hands-on workshop at the Latin America Open Technology Conference--Latinoware 2023, revealed unanimous interest among 36 respondents, mainly for teaching programming (58%), and valuing its low cost, diverse components, and ease of AI-assisted programming. 75% of respondents expressed a strong desire to use BitDogLab, despite 19% preferring familiar boards like Arduino or Micro:bit. The project's open distribution encourages community contributions, promoting collaborative learning and innovation from children to preuniversity students.

Virtual reality (VR) applications are developing rapidly, becoming more and more affordable, and offer various advantages for learning contexts. Dynamic visualizations are generally suitable for depicting continuous processes (e.g., different movement patterns), and particularly dynamic virtual 3D-objects can provide different perspectives on the movements. The present study investigated through a low immersive (desktop "VR", Study 1) and a high immersive virtual environment (immersive VR; Study 2) the effectiveness of different interaction formats to view 3D-objects from different perspectives. Participants controlled either the orientation of the 3D-objects (Study 1, mouse interaction; Study 2, hand interaction via VR controllers) or their viewpoint in relation to the 3D-objects (Study 1, camera position; Study 2, position of participants' own body). Additionally, the moderating influence of learners' visuospatial ability was addressed. Dependent variables were pictorial recognition (easy, medium, difficult), factual knowledge, presence, and motion sickness. Results showed that higher-visuospatial-ability learners outperformed lower-visuospatial-ability learners. In Study 1, higher-visuospatial-ability learners showed higher recognition performance (difficult items) by controlling the camera position, whereas lower-visuospatial-ability learners suffered from this interaction format. In Study 2, higher-visuospatial-ability learners achieved better recognition performance (easy items) by controlling the 3D-models, whereas lower-visuospatial-ability learners tended to profit from moving around the 3D-objects (medium items). The immersive VR yielded more presence and higher motion sickness. This study clearly shows that different interaction formats to view 3D-objects from multiple perspectives in Desktop-VR are not transferable on a one-to-one basis into immersive VR. The results and implications for the design of virtual learning environments are discussed.

Students today are often assumed to be digitally literate and prepared for college, but that is not always the case. Introductory technology courses at the college level provide students with the technology and digital skills necessary for them to succeed in college. This study, conducted at a small New England "business school" that also offers liberal arts degrees, sought to determine which digital skills most incoming first-year college students have. The study examines which digital skills and competencies students acquire before entering college, and if those skills are adequate to achieve academic success in college. Guiding the study are these research questions: (RQ1) What digital devices are students using and with what frequency? (RQ2) What digital literacy competencies (DLCs) do incoming first-year students possess? (RQ3) How do first-year students self-rank their DLCs, and how does that compare to individual task self-ranking? (RQ4) What DLCs do incoming first-year students perceive as the most important to know, and do they have those skills? Results showed that most K-12 students are learning on Macs or Chromebooks and use the Google Suite of applications. They may need to switch to Windows machines and/or Microsoft Office products upon entering college. Almost 16% reported taking no high school courses covering computer topics. Only 34% of incoming first-year college students consider themselves "tech savvy" and most rank themselves at the beginner or intermediate level on digital literacy competencies. They believe the three most important skills to know are spreadsheets, programming, and word processing.

Research on mixed devices in web surveys is in its infancy. Using a randomized experiment, we investigated device effects (desktop PC, tablet and mobile phone) for six response formats and four different numbers of scale points. N = 5,077 members of an online access panel participated in the experiment. An exact test of measurement invariance and Composite Reliability were investigated. The results provided full data comparability for devices and formats, with the exception of continuous Visual Analog Scale (VAS), but limited comparability for different numbers of scale points. There were device effects on reliability when looking at the interactions with formats and number of scale points. VAS, use of mobile phones and five point scales consistently gained lower reliability. We suggest technically less demanding implementations as well as a unified design for mixed-device surveys.

Educators used distance education to respond to the Corona pandemic. The research question focuses on teachers' perceptions toward the use of ICT competencies in distance education, taking training courses into account. The study included 206 primary school teachers from Jordan's northern schools. A questionnaire designed specifically for this study was used, and its validity and reliability coefficient of 0.82 was confirmed. The findings revealed statistically significant variations in the sign of the training courses variable in favor of the teachers who got training. It is frequently regarded as insufficient by teachers' perspectives on the application of ICT competencies. As a result, respondents understand the necessity for and importance of using ICT for distance preparation and teaching and consider it a vital component of their professional development. The findings recommended incorporating competencies linked to teaching online (electronic course management, computer applications, networking, and educational materials creation), into training programs.

Low-powered mobile devices such as Raspberry Pis and tablets can be used as microservers to implement offline Learning Management Systems (LMS). Despite their potential, especially for low-income countries, such as Tanzania, no research is available detailing the affordances of these devices for supporting LMS features. This study investigated the suitability of various low-cost micro-servers for deploying LMSs. It compared the performance of the Raspberry Pi, Android tablet, and Chromebook in terms of LMS benchmarking, response time, and resource utilisation. Results showed all devices had sufficient hardware resources to support the LMS, however, software stacks, I/O performance, and platform optimisations affected the micro-servers' performance. The Chromebook had the best performance in terms of response time, followed by the Raspberry Pi and tablets. In terms of cost, the Raspberry PI was the cheapest option. The installation process for tablets was more cumbersome than the other devices, meaning the devices with better tooling and a more conventional software stack were a better option for deploying offline micro-servers.

This study aims to examine the studies scanned in Web of Science and Scopus databases between 2006-2020 on the use of augmented reality applications in music education in terms of their descriptive features, methodological features, and outcomes, and to reveal the trends in this field. The criterion sample approach was utilized in this qualitative study, and 35 selected studies were reviewed using the publication classification form and analyzed using the content analysis method. The descriptive and methodological feature data were translated into frequency values using the SPSS 22 program and then interpreted using tables and charts for easy comprehension. Furthermore, the advantages and limitations of AR applications utilized in music education, which were the research's outputs, were coded, organized into relevant categories, and interpreted. The results showed that most studies focused on piano and guitar education for beginners; no studies were undertaken on wind instruments or voice training. Studies, particularly in recent years, have focused on user experience research. Furthermore, it was found that AR applications have the advantages of increasing and facilitating student learning performance, making learning exciting and fun, and providing motivation. Some challenges during use, owing to technical issues and limited field content in the programs, resulted in limited improvements in music education.

E-learning is becoming more popular than conventional teaching methods, particularly in science education. The use of e-learning has increased worldwide, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, students' e-learning styles have gained even more importance. The participants of this survey, which aimed to examine e-learning styles for selected variables, consisted of 401 pre-service science teachers from two public universities in Turkey. The personal information form was used to obtain data on gender, university, personal computer ownership status, type of device used to connect to the internet, grade level, number of social network memberships, internet usage purpose, and duration of social media use. Another tool used in face-to-face data collection was the E-Learning Styles Scale (ESS). As a result of the analysis, it was understood that participants' e-learning style scores were generally on the positive side. In terms of gender, grade level, and duration of social media use variables, there were statistically significant differences in the ESS and some of its sub-dimensions, while differences were found in only some sub-dimensions for the university variables, internet usage purpose, and number of social network memberships. Several suggestions were made in conjunction with the results of the descriptive and inferential analyses.

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) about computing devices. Seven families with ASD children were interviewed about their children's use of computer devices and their impact on their academic and social behavior. Although parents raised concerns about internet addiction and cybersecurity, these devices were part of their children's daily routines and were used for educational and entertainment purposes. Occasionally, targeted activities such as video modeling have been used to address personal and social behaviors. However, the results suggested that parents were unprepared to help their children due to a lack of knowledge, community support, and resources.

This research examined the process of creating educational innovations through cloud-based constructivism and connectivism learning for undergraduates. The objectives were as follows: (1) To examine the cloud-based constructivism and connectivism learning model's roles in helping undergraduates create educational innovations; and (2) To evaluate the learning and innovation skills of students participating in cloud-based constructivism. The population in the study consisted of 60 undergraduates of Phetchaburi Rajabhat University, acquired using simple random sampling. The undergraduates were enrolled in a course for designing and developing games for education and computer-assisted mathematics instruction. The independent variable was the format of the constructivism and connectivism learning model for undergraduates involving cloud technology to promote innovative education. The dependent variable was the result of innovative education. The research findings were as follows: (1) Participants' overall satisfaction with the model was at the highest level ([x-bar] = 4.53, S.D. = 0.60). (2) Out of the 60 students, 21 created innovative educational workpieces. Four workpieces were accepted for academic publication, showing that this model allowed learners to analyze media, promote innovative education, and apply educational innovations.

The objectives of this study were to (1) investigate the efficiency of blended teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer application for Shunde Technical Vocational College, (2) compare students' achievements before and after learning through blended teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer application, and (3) examine students' satisfaction with of using blended teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer application. The sample comprised 30 students at Shunde Technical Vocational College in China, derived through purposive sampling. The instruments used to collect the data were (1) blended teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer application for enhancing learning achievement, a student's pretest and a posttest, and a teacher's satisfaction form. The data analysis statistics were percentage, mean, standard deviation, and the t-test for the dependent sample. The research findings revealed that applying blended teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer applications for enhanced learning achievement was efficient by E1/E2 (81.40/81.23). The evaluation of content blended teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer application teaching by the experts was appropriate at the excellent level ([x-bar]=4.78, SD. = 0.58). The evaluation of students' satisfaction with blended teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer applications in China by 30 students. The overall students' satisfaction was a strongly agreeing level ([x-bar]=4.51, SD. = 0.50). When considering each item, it was found that blended teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer application methods was strongly agreeing level ([x-bar]=4.67, SD. = 0.48) and combined teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer application was strongly agree level ([x-bar]= 4.60, SD. = 0.50), respectively. According to Shunde Technical Vocational College, teachers' satisfaction with blended teaching online according to the Super Star Learning Pass model on Basic computer applications for enhanced learning achievement was high, with a mean of 4.51.

The study employed a quantitative research design using the general survey model to understand a large research population without intervening in variables. It involved 552 teacher candidates from an education faculty in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, with 142 males and 410 females participating voluntarily. Data were collected using the Computer Game Motivation Scale (CGMS) with 17 items and five sub-dimensions (Concentration, Enjoyment, Escape, Learning, and Socialization), assessed on a five-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree). The reliability coefficients (Cronbach's Alpha) ranged from 0.77 to 0.95 for scale structures and were 0.94 for the entire scale. Internal consistency coefficients for sub-dimensions varied from .78 to 0.94, with 0.93 for the overall scale. The information form included gender, department/unit, perceived income status, and place of residence inquiries. Male students had higher gaming addiction scores than females, and those in verbal programs scored higher than numerical programs. 2nd and 3rd-year students had higher gaming addiction scores, and students with a perception of very poor income also scored higher in gaming addiction. Interestingly, the place of residence did not significantly affect gaming addiction, likely due to widespread internet and technology access. In summary, this study highlighted how gender, program, class level, and income perception impact gaming addiction among university students, while place of residence does not seem to play a significant role.

In this case study, we present our findings regarding a massive open online Scratch programming course. The course, which followed a project-based learning approach, was delivered from July 4 to 30, 2022 to 186 students in Brazil. The students were challenged to develop individual coding projects. Our research goal was to investigate teaching and learning course dynamics. We followed a convergent parallel mixed-method approach. We collected quantitative and qualitative data by means of questionnaires. We were able to identify five intertwined feedback loops that drove the educational process. Our main findings are as follows: 1) The development of coding skills was driven by the effort of watching video-lectures, remixing of peers' codes, and by sharing knowledge between the students. 2) The project-based learning approach created opportunities for the students to collaborate and exchange ideas.

Recognizing the appealing features of a tablet (e.g., an iPad), including size, mobility, touch screen display, and virtual keyboard, more educational professionals are moving away from larger laptop and desktop computers and turning to the iPad for their daily work, such as reading and writing. Following the results of a recent survey of individuals who serve as ETS raters, more than 40% reported that they would prefer to use an iPad or other type of tablet to score essays. However, iPad-based essay scoring could affect scoring accuracy and scoring time because the smaller screen and other features of an iPad may also affect raters' reading comprehension and score assigning processes. To address this issue, we invited 10 experienced raters to score holistically 40 essays for a graduate admission test using a desktop computer and an iPad following a counterbalanced design. We compared the raters' scores against the criterion scores and analyzed scoring times, scoring behaviors, and raters' answers to a structured interview after the scoring experiment. The results reveal no obvious differences between the two devices in the scoring accuracy or average scoring time per essay, which suggests that scoring on an iPad may not reduce scoring quality or scoring productivity for essays that are holistically scored as compared to scoring the essays on a desktop computer. We also found a few iPad-specific issues that raters reported, including issues associated with the invisible scrolling bar and the extra scrolling needed to reach the score-assignment panel, difficulty navigating between the prompt and the essay response, and oversensitivity of the touch screen.

This paper outlines how ideas of 'degrowth' might be used to reimagine sustainable forms of education technology. In essence, degrowth calls for a proactive renewal of technology use around goals of voluntary simplicity and slowing-down, community-based coproduction and sharing, alongside conscious minimalization of resource consumption. The paper considers how core degrowth principles of conviviality, commoning, autonomy and care have been used to develop various forms of 'radically sustainable computing'. The paper then suggests four ways in which degrowth principles might frame future thinking around education technology in terms of: (i) curtailing current manipulative forms of education technology, (ii) bolstering existing convivial forms of education technology; (iii) stimulating the development of new convivial education technologies; and (iv) developing digital technologies to achieve the eventual de-schooling of society. It is concluded that mobilisation of these ideas might support a much-needed reorientation of digital technology in education along low-impact, equitable lines.

Global trends in higher education emphasize the development of curricula that offer greater responsiveness to learners. Creating flexible and responsive curricula will require additional support systems for curriculum management. The first step toward sustainably developing this kind of system is to represent essential curricular information in a way that allows sharing common components across various work processes within the educational environment. The current research implements a new approach for representing curriculum components, by systematically analyzing external source data to extract the basic knowledge, skills and dependencies which then become objects into an ontology. The resulting ontology should act as a computationally-accessible model of the curriculum with sufficient information and usable quality. This paper describes a trial implementation of our approach using actual curriculum documents. Results from performance metrics and expert evaluation validate the proposed strategy and suggest that the approach is feasible for real-world practice.

The impact of digital technologies on the ways people work, learn and live has been debated and researched for half a century. Digital literacy approaches have recurrently been the focus of educational and industry learning; however, current framings of digital literacy are not sufficient to support students' digital capability development, nor do static digital literacies reflect the dynamic and contextual nature of digital capabilities. A digital capability continuum that fluidly moves between digital foundation skills, digital literacies and digital fluency is a more robust model for education. By unpacking the digital capability continuum and responding to both learning and curriculum paradigms, this paper expands on an earlier framework (Coldwell-Neilson, 2020), the decoding digital literacy framework, as well as building on our research and academic experiences, to inform higher education. A key agenda is that the higher education sector frames digital fluency as a mindset and an attitude. The model and framework underscore that capabilities need to be flexible and transferable across technologies, disciplines and the world of work.

This study investigated the potential impact of Internet connection quality and device compatibility on learners' adoption of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) by employing the Technology Acceptance Model as a framework. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was applied to data collected from 1,587 learners, followed by a two-way multivariate analysis of variance. The results showed that the Internet connection quality and device compatibility factors affected learners' acceptance of MOOCs when the factors were tested together (p = 0.004), or separately (p < 0.001). Moreover, Internet connection quality and device compatibility factors affected learners' perceived usefulness (p < 0.001), ease of use (p = 0.008), and their intention towards continued use of MOOCs (p = 0.006). This study provided significant evidence for the need to consider learners with low Internet connectivity and device compatibility when designing MOOCs. It thereby implies that designers of MOOCs should develop alternative learning modalities to accommodate individuals with limited Internet connectivity. This approach aims to not only augment the initial adoption of MOOCs but also ensure their long-term viability and endurance. Specifically, the study recommends the creation of low-bandwidth versions of MOOCs, and the implementation of offline viewing options to mitigate bandwidth constraints and enhance learners' receptiveness to them. This strategic approach, in turn, is anticipated to facilitate the wider diffusion and sustainability of MOOCs.

Scrolling is a widely used mean to interact with visual displays, usually to move content to a certain target location on the display. Understanding how user scroll might identify potentially suboptimal use and allows to infer users' intentions. In the present study, we examined where users click on a scrollbar depending on the intended scrolling action. In two online experiments, click positions were systematically adapted to the intended scrolling action. Click position selection could not be explained as strict optimization of the distance traveled with the cursor, memory load, or motor-cognitive factors. By contrast, for identical scrolling actions click positions strongly depended on the context and on previous scrolls. The behavior of our participants closely resembled behavior observed for manipulation of other physical devices and suggested a simple heuristic of movement planning. The results have implications for modeling human-computer interaction and may contribute to predicting user behavior.

This article analyzes the development, commercialization and demise of the Smaky school computer in French-speaking, Western Switzerland between 1973 and 1997. By examining archival material, I consider the connections between this locally assembled and used school computer, and the globally embedded economic developments during the period of investigation. I argue that, historically, the Smaky was both a product of and a response to the region's economic crisis in the 1970s and early 1980s. Analytically speaking, I critically reflect on the seemingly contradictory categories of 'global' and 'local'. Although these were politically effective among historical actors, they are of limited use in the historical analysis of digital educational technologies.

In this paper we discuss the types of knowledge used by six middle school students as they engaged with a debugging task designed to integrate ideas from computer science, mathematics and science. Our findings show that the computational thinking practice of debugging is a rich source of opportunities to integrate these different disciplines. The analysis illustrates how the types of knowledge the students did and did not use at each step of the debugging process were related to their ability to succeed at each step. Our work contributes to theory and practice by uncovering implications for studying debugging through two refined frameworks and for designing debugging tasks to support transdisciplinary learning.

A systematic review is a type of literature review that aims to collect and analyse all available evidence from the literature on a particular topic. The process of screening and identifying eligible articles from the vast amounts of literature is a time-consuming task. Specialised software has been developed to aid in the screening process and save significant time and labour. However, the most suitable software tools that are available often come with a cost or only offer either a limited or a trial version for free. In this paper, we report the release of a new software application, Catchii, which contains all the important features of a systematic review screening application while being completely free. It supports a user at different stages of screening, from detecting duplicates to creating the final flowchart for a publication. Catchii is designed to provide a good user experience and streamline the screening process through its clean and user-friendly interface on both computers and mobile devices. All in all, Catchii is a valuable addition to the current selection of systematic review screening applications. It enables researchers without financial resources to access features found in the best paid tools, while also diminishing costs for those who have previously relied on paid applications. Catchii is available at https://catchii.org.

Online laboratories have been widely used in education, research, and industrial applications. For online laboratories, various architectures have been constructed to provide good user experience and powerful capabilities for online experimentation, in which the controller is a crucial part to connect the server with a controlled test rig. Regarding the physical nature of the controllers and test rigs used in online laboratories, a specific control process can be called a simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, rapid control prototyping, or physical control. This article presents an overview of the most commonly used controllers in current online laboratories, focusing on the functionalities, use purposes, and types of different controllers, as well as their role in online laboratories for teaching and learning. In particular, the low-cost PC controller used in the Networked Control System Laboratory, which provides both remote and virtual experiments, is introduced. The limitations and potential development directions of online laboratories are identified.

Background: There are two major types of pictures that have been the focus of multimedia learning research, namely, seductive and interpretational pictures. Despite an increasing body of literature documenting the effects of either seductive or interpretational pictures added to text-based materials, there is a paucity of research explicitly comparing them in a multimedia learning environment. Objectives: To address this gap, this study manipulated the picture condition by designing seductive pictures (SPs), interpretational pictures (IPs), and seductive plus interpretational pictures (SIPs) and investigated the multimedia effects of SPs, IPs, and SIPs on several cognitive and affective-motivational variables. Methods: Two computer-based experiments were conducted where a scientific text about the blood circulatory system was presented with SPs, IPs, or SIPs. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions, and completed a subsequent learning test (comprehension and transfer questions) as well as a survey measuring their learning experience. Results and Conclusions: The results of the two experiments were consistent in showing that our experimental manipulation was unsuccessful in influencing the learning outcome variables. Nevertheless, learning with seductive plus interpretational pictures appeared to yield better judgement accuracy, as compared to learning with seductive or interpretational pictures only. Most educational practitioners still include decorative elements based on their impression of aesthetics of motivation; this study encourages them to use these elements within their learning materials.

Background: Goal setting has been established in the literature as a critical component of self-regulated learning and for effective problem-solving. Yet, surprisingly little attention has been focused on goal-directed behaviour in digital game-based learning environments (GBLEs) despite their expanding use in educational contexts. Objectives: The current study examined the impact of goal assignment in a GBLE aligned with curricular objectives and played in a classroom context. Methods: Eighth-grade students (N = 59) in the experiment were randomly assigned to either a mastery goal condition or a performance goal condition before playing "Crystal Island--Outbreak". Goal orientation was measured before gameplay, monitoring judgements assessed during gameplay, and enjoyment was measured after game play. Results and Conclusions: Two important results emerged that contribute to the existing literature on goals and GBLEs. First, assignment to the mastery goal condition resulted in significantly higher enjoyment ratings and monitoring judgements but not game performance while considering the influence of pre-existing goal-orientation. Second, self-reported mastery goal orientation and videogame play frequency predicted enjoyment in the game. Implications: The results suggest that enjoyment can be facilitated by orienting students to adopt mastery goals and that developers should consider integrating mastery-based instructions in their GBLEs. Moreover, instructional goals can influence students regardless of incoming goal orientations.

Modern life is increasingly influenced by networks, making cybersecurity a crucial area of study. However, due to their few resources and varied makeup, they are more vulnerable to a wide range of cyber-attacks. Such risks result in sensitive information being stolen as well as financial and reputational harm to firms. How far malicious detection techniques have advanced in the intrusion detection system (IDS) industry is difficult to quantify. Therefore, a unique IDS known optimized Artificial Intelligence approach is designed to effectively identify the intrusions. The preprocessing activity is initially carried out to improve the data quality for identifying network intrusions utilizing normalization and standardization. The Corporate Hierarchy optimization (CHO) technique is then used to choose the important features from the databases. By accurately identifying intrusions, the suggested golden eagle optimization-based Self-constructing Multi-layer Perceptron Interfaced Fuzzy system (GEO-SMPIF) solution improves privacy and security within the professional network infrastructure. The ensuing hyperparameters are adjusted optimally using GEO methods during parameter identification, and a backpropagation technique tunes the precondition parameters. Using datasets of NSL-KDD and UNSW-NB15, the Python platform creates the experimental setup. When compared to existing approaches, the analysis's findings show that the suggested method performs better at identifying intrusions with prediction performance in terms of a 99.78% of high detection rate, 99.99% of high accuracy, and 0.04 less false alarm rate in NSL-KDD and 99.70% of high detection rate, 99.97% of high accuracy and 0.065 of less false alarm rate in UNSW-NB15 dataset.

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the potential of use for computer science course designs (CSCD) created by game-based learning method. Qualitative case study was used as the research design. CSCDs created for Minecraft Education Edition (MinecraftEdu) were examined in the context of various criteria by document analysis method, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers actively using MinecraftEdu in their classes. The research revealed that the CSCDs created for MinecraftEdu primarily aimed at developing coding and design skills, underscored interdisciplinary collaboration, laid more emphasis on cognitive-psychomotor achievements with curriculum eligibility. It was acknowledged that introduction, body and conclusion parts have an elaborate design in majority of course designs according to Gagné's Events of Instruction Model, and yet, more attention should be paid to gaining the learner's attention, stimulating recall of prior learning, giving feedback, and ensuring retention and transfer. Despite increasing interest and trend towards educational games and game-based learning environments, there are limited number of studies that can help teachers evaluate the games that can be most effective in their fields and different learning contexts. Therefore, it is anticipated that this study will contribute to the related literature on game-based course designs and applicability.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be in the future lives of children at school today. Voice-activated intelligent personal assistant devices are used in the home and could be useful in the classroom. This article explores how two groups of New Zealand children aged 7-12 engaged with Google Home devices in their classroom. Interactions recorded through the devices were analysed to evaluate how the devices were used, how easy they were to use and how the use aligns with the purposes of education. A framework for analysis was developed from Davis's Technology Acceptance Model and Biesta's three functions of education. The children used the devices across the three functions of education. They anthropomorphised the device, talking respectfully, sharing jokes and asking for its opinion. Use was influenced by the social context of the classroom and teacher beliefs about education, and limited as the devices were not designed for the classroom.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) skills are critical for students of all ages to maximize their learning. Two key processes of SRL are being aware of one's performance (self-evaluation) and believing in one's capabilities to produce given attainments (self-efficacy). To assess and improve these capabilities in young children (5-8), we use a literacy web application, where we introduced two randomly triggered prompts to evaluate perceived difficulty and desired difficulty. Comparing students' actual performance with their responses to self-regulatory prompts provides information about their ability to self-regulate their learning, in particular their self-evaluation and self-efficacy. The novelty of this work resides in studying the SRL of young children (5-8) in digital learning environments while learning another task (reading in our case), measuring and improving some SRL abilities themselves and not only measuring and improving academic results in other tasks, and the large number of students on which the studies were carried (over 400 000). Using 15 982 994 responses from 467 116 students, we first measured two types of SRL deficits, and then, we assessed how a scaffolding and remediation strategy can reduce these deficits. In Study 1, we compare a group receiving remediation feedback to a control group, whereas in Study 2, we determine the impact of age and level on the remediation efficiency. Our contribution is twofold: a method to address on the long term a deficit in self-evaluation or in self-efficacy in a digital learning environment, and a corroboration of the fact that students who are academically at risk lack self-efficacy and avoid tackling challenging exercises compared with their level. We, therefore, recommend that digital learning environments integrate an overlay of SRL, such as self-evaluation and self-efficacy remediation loops, especially for younger students and students who are struggling academically. We included notes for educational practitioners in this article for this purpose.

In recent years, subject content such as programming and digital literacy has become an integral part of technology education. However, research shows that many programming teachers lack sufficient formal education to teach programming and show disparate educational and professional experiences. This study investigates how three teachers' knowledge and beliefs about their teaching practices are enacted in their classroom practice. The data for the study consist of videoed classroom observations and subsequent episodic narrative interviews with the teachers. Metaphor analysis have been used to uncover central relations between the teachers' knowledge and beliefs about their practice and their classroom actions. The result of the study reveals that the teachers describe their roles as teachers differently. Despite the differences, the teachers still share the idea that programming is an activity where small pieces of code is intertwined so that they can achieve a purpose. However, none of the teachers speak about code as being essential for learning programming. The teachers all seem to view themselves as assets for the students' achievements, nevertheless, they do not share the idea of why. Altogether, the result of the study suggests that even though the curriculum is the same, teachers' knowledge and beliefs about their teaching plays a big role in students' education. Also, the study show, that it is reasonable to suggest that conceptual metaphors affect not only our language, but also our actions in the classroom.

Some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience seizures and associated staring episodes, loss of consciousness, weakened muscle tone, and myoclonic jerking. Data recording of seizure frequency, duration, and co-occurring behavior is necessary to document the effects of anti-epileptic medications, identify contextual influences on seizure expression, and differentiate seizures from other movement disorders. We describe the design and operation of a computer-assisted system for recording seizures among children with ASD in a social validity study that revealed uniform approval and acceptance of the system from practitioners, clinicians, and nurse (N = 22), parents (N = 11), and neurologists (N = 7). The objectives and benefits of targeting the social validity of technology-based seizure tracking are discussed are discussed.

Owing to the predominant role of Machine Learning(ML) across domains, it is being introduced at multiple levels of education, including K-12. Researchers have leveraged games, augmented reality and other ways to make learning ML concepts interesting. However, most of the existing games to teach ML concepts either focus on use-cases and applications of ML instead of core concepts or directly introduce ML terminologies, which might be overwhelming to school students. Hence, in this paper, we propose "ML-Quest," a game to incrementally present a conceptual overview of three ML concepts: "Supervised Learning," "Gradient Descent" and "K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) Classification." The game has been evaluated through a controlled experiment, for its usefulness and player experience using the TAM model, with 41 higher-secondary school students. Results show that students in the experimental group perform better in the test than students in the control group, with 5% of students in the experimental group scoring full marks. However, none of the students in the control group could score full marks. The survey results indicate that around 77% of the participants who played the game either agree or strongly agree that ML-Quest has made their learning interactive and is helpful in introducing them to ML concepts.

This article introduces a novel approach to remote laboratory instruction, specifically designed for teaching three-dimensional modeling using Blender software. The lab uses virtual machines to provide students with the necessary computational power to carry out the course activities, along with the correct version of the software. The flipped remote lab approach combines the elements of flipped classroom and peer assessment, making it suitable for face-to-face, totally online, or hybrid classes. Prior to each of the two lectures, students begin to practice by replicating the instructor's demonstrations in a set of concise tutorials. Upon completion of the assigned tasks, students carry out self-assessments of their own modeling, in addition to assessing two models created by their peers. A rubric comprising three questions facilitates the assessment process and allows providing feedback on each response. During the subsequent lecture, students work together with the instructor to address challenges encountered in their modeling, exploring also the advanced aspects of software usage that time constraints preclude in a traditional setting. The analysis of the flipped remote lab results reveals that student responses in peer-assessment activities are relevant to the posed questions. Moreover, the students who realized the models demonstrated a comparable level of rigor in self-assessment as their mates who reviewed their works. While students express a high degree of appreciation for the laboratory activities, a notable concern is the highlighted heavy workload. Increasing the allocated time for task completion can help mitigate the workload impact. The article concludes with insights gained from the implementation of the flipped remote lab approach.

To writing anything on a keyboard at all requires us to know first what to type, then to activate motor programmes for finger movements, and execute these. An interruption in the information flow at any of these stages leads to disfluencies. To capture this combination of fluent typing and typing hesitations, researchers calculate different measures from keystroke-latency data--such as mean inter-keystroke interval and pause frequencies. There are two fundamental problems with this: first, summary statistics ignore important information in the data and frequently result in biased estimates; second, pauses and pause-related measures are defined using threshold values which are, in principle, arbitrary. We implemented a series of Bayesian models that aimed to address both issues while providing reliable estimates for individual typing speed and statistically inferred process disfluencies. We tested these models on a random sample of 250 copy-task recordings. Our results illustrate that we can model copy typing as a mixture process of fluent and disfluent key transitions. We conclude that mixture models (1) map onto the information cascade that generate keystrokes, and (2) provide a principled approach to detect disfluencies in keyboard typing.

As augmented, virtual and mixed reality have become more user-friendly and affordable, these technologies gained increasing interest from education. Teachers all over the world are triggered by the perceived benefits and start experimenting. However, teachers encounter obstacles to pursue effective implementation. This paper describes how these obstacles are being tackled in Flanders (Belgium) via a large-scale, nation-wide framework for the implementation of augmented, virtual and mixed reality in K-12 technical and vocational education. This framework was designed, adopting an Educational Design Research approach, and consists of five interrelated pillars: hardware, software, professional development of teachers, practice-oriented research, and coordination. The proposed framework provides guidelines, both for researchers and education policy makers.

Revision plays an important role in writing, and as revisions break down the linearity of the writing process, they are crucial in describing writing process dynamics. Keystroke logging and analysis have been used to identify revisions made during writing. Previous approaches include the manual annotation of revisions, building nonlinear S-notations, and the automated extraction of backspace keypresses. However, these approaches are time-intensive, vulnerable to construct, or restricted. Therefore, this article presents a computational approach to the automatic extraction of full revision events from keystroke logs, including both insertions and deletions, as well as the characters typed to replace the deleted text. Within this approach, revision candidates are first automatically extracted, which allows for a simplified manual annotation of revision events. Second, machine learning is used to automatically detect revision events. For this, 7120 revision events were manually annotated in a dataset of keystrokes obtained from 65 students conducting a writing task. The results showed that revision events could be automatically predicted with a relatively high accuracy. In addition, a case study proved that this approach could be easily applied to a new dataset. To conclude, computational approaches can be beneficial in providing automated insights into revisions in writing.