Frontiers in Education: Digital Learning Innovations

This systematic review, conducted following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, evaluates the efficacy of emerging digital technologies—namely virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and adaptive learning technologies (ALT)—in enhancing vocabulary acquisition within English as a second language (ESL) education. By addressing a notable gap in the literature, this review explores how these technologies mitigate common learning challenges and improve educational outcomes. Through a critical analysis of recent empirical studies across diverse educational stages, it synthesizes findings to assess their impact on vocabulary retention and overall academic performance. The results indicate that these technologies enhance vocabulary acquisition and increase student motivation and engagement, significantly impacting educational practices and policymaking. This review highlights the transformative potential of VR, AR, and ALT in ESL education by providing immersive and personalized learning experiences that address traditional barriers in language acquisition.

The paper takes the evolution of China’s aesthetic education policy as its entry point to elucidate the intrinsic driving forces behind the development of aesthetic education. Political ideology, labor, and moral education are often interwoven, and these aims have simultaneously provided an opportunity for new media art to engage with aesthetic education. Under the policy support of the Ministry of Education’s new round of aesthetic education immersion initiatives, new media art has undertaken a series of reforms, innovations, and experiments—employing interactive and immersive methods—to enhance and expand aesthetic experiences. Due to the alignment of certain concepts with those in traditional philosophy, it has garnered institutional favor. Research indicates that new media art-based aesthetic education possesses notable advantages in cultivating imagination, creativity, and other capacities in the digital age; however, despite its rapid development propelled by policy momentum, it still faces challenges such as a shortage of qualified educators and a narrow understanding of aesthetic education—issues that may paradoxically give rise to a dilemma rooted in deeper systemic contradictions.

Due to the rapidly improving capability of large language models such as Generative Pre-trained Transformer models (GPT), artificial intelligence (AI) based tools have entered use in education at scale. However, empirical data are largely lacking on the effects of AI tools on learning. Here, we determine the impact of four GPT-based tools on college-aged participants’ reading comprehension of standardized American College Test (ACT)-derived passages using a randomized cross-over online study (n = 195). The four tools studied were AI-generated summaries, AI-generated outlines, a question-and-answer tutor chatbot, and a Socratic discussion chatbot. Consistent with our pre-registered hypotheses, we found a differential effect of AI tools as a function of baseline reading comprehension ability. AI tools significantly improved comprehension in lower performing participants and significantly worsened comprehension in higher performing participants. With respect to specific tools, low performers were most benefited by the Socratic chatbot while high performers were worsened most by the summary tool. These findings suggest that while AI tools have massive potential to enhance learning, blanket implementation may cause unintended harm to higher-performing students, calling for caution and further empirical study by developers and educators.

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing industries including institutions of higher learning as it enhances teaching and learning processes, streamline administrative tasks and drive innovations. Despite the unprecedented opportunities, AI tools if not used correctly, can be challenging in education institutions. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively review the AI innovations, opportunities and challenges associated with the use of AI in higher Education of learning. A systematic literature review methodology was adopted and used to locate and select existing studies, analyze and synthesize the evidence to arrive at clear conclusion about the current debate in the area of study. Following the PRISMA, the study analyzed a total of 54 documents that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria set for selection of the documents. The review unveiled many opportunities including enhanced research capabilities, automation of administrative tasks among others. Artificial Intelligence tools are found to refine and streamline the administrative tasks in different units in higher institutions of learning. The challenges include ethical concerns, integrity issues and data fabrication issues. With the challenges notwithstanding, the benefits of Artificial Intelligence cannot be over emphasized. Artificial intelligence remains a powerful tool for research, automation of administrative tasked, personalized learning, inclusivity and accessibility of educational content for all. Emphasis should be put in regulatory frameworks detailing how such tools can be used while maintaining the level of ethical standards required.

IntroductionDigital technologies are widely integrated with teaching and learning, and examining these technological interventions in the classrooms has become an active research area. Existing reviews are often constrained, relying on qualitative methods like meta-analysis, scoping review, or systematic review, which tend to cover a limited number of studies. We conducted a bibliometric analysis of 1,128 articles published between 2014 and 2023 from the Web of Science database to provide a comprehensive overview of this field.MethodsThis study used Biblioshiny and VOSviewer tools to perform performance analysis and scientific mapping. In this study, performance analysis was performed, including descriptive statistics, publication trends, and identification of key actors. Furthermore, scientific mapping has also been done to visualize the prevalent structural aspects and hot research topics to observe the evolving dynamics over the past 10 years.ResultsThe findings indicate a significant rise in publications over the past decade, with an annual growth of 21.5 per cent. We identified prolific authors, institutions, journals, countries, articles, and keywords that encapsulate the domain of digital technologies in the classrooms. The prospective challenges were also identified, including a need for a more technology-driven culture, limited teacher assistance, user interface design issues, proper training, and a technological divide.DiscussionThe findings could encourage the use of digital technologies in the classrooms and offer insights for policymakers to (re)allocate resources. Furthermore, this work is valuable for informing scholars and practitioners about the current state of research, helping them to identify and focus on trending topics when deciding which areas to explore.

The landscape of higher education is continuously evolving, with online learning emerging as a prominent educational modality. This cross-sectional study, conducted at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) in Lebanon from January to October 2023, aimed to assess Lebanese students’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of online learning as a mode of education and to develop strategies and recommendations for enhancing online learning in Lebanon. Using a convenience-sampling method, we collected 309 responses, focusing on educators’ preparedness, student satisfaction, adaptability in online learning, and preferences for future learning modalities. The results highlighted a pressing demand for innovative course design strategies that promote engagement and interactivity, with 41.4% of respondents expressing this need. Additionally, 34.6% of learners emphasized the need for accessible technical support. Furthermore, 38.8% of participants underscored the necessity of comprehensive training programs for educators and learners in navigating online learning environments effectively. Moreover, the preference for online or hybrid learning models (55%) emphasized the importance of flexibility while preserving the value of in-person interactions. The study also highlighted the potential of educational advances to further enhance online learning environments. These technologies could provide opportunities for personalized learning experiences, tailoring course content, delivery methods, and assessments to meet the diverse needs of students, thus fostering a more adaptable and inclusive learning ecosystem. These insights are crucial for refining online education strategies and addressing the evolving needs of students in Lebanon.