ETR&D

The worldwide disruption of higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic has been studied from the viewpoints of institutions and teachers, with some attention to students’ health and learning challenges. Attempts to theorise the diverse and conflicting challenges faced by students learning online during the pandemic have been limited. It is helpful to analyse students’ experiences as part of an activity system in order to unravel the system’s elements and determine contradictions that occur. This study adopted a mixed methods approach to investigate students’ online learning experiences at all eight New Zealand universities during the pandemic. Data obtained via a large-scale online survey, followed by focus groups and individual interviews, is presented in light of an Activity Theory framework. Findings show that students’ key challenges were associated with new tools and technologies, lack of interaction and social connection, lack of routine and space, and clashing commitments due to multiple roles and responsibilities. Contradictions can be a driving force for change and development in teaching and learning contexts. We conclude with recommendations for tertiary institutions, teachers, learning designers and students to inform future learning and teaching plans.

This paper extends research that looks at the intersection of multimodal composing and maker education. We present findings from a fourth iteration of a multidisciplinary classroom design study in which high school youth made digital comics based on literary novels in an 11th grade language arts classroom in a predominantly Hispanic, low-SES, urban high school. The current study offers a close analysis of students’ processes for making digital comics and how they utilized smartphone-based social media apps and comics tools to construct meaning via transmediation of a traditional literary text. We focused on two (cases) groups of students’ multimodal making. We asked, how do youth leverage their own socio-technical repertoires of practice in multimodal making of digital comics? We used interaction analysis methods to analyze multimodal talk-in-interaction to understand how students used their bodies and technologies across making activities. We found that multimodal making with personal technologies enabled youth to transform and ascribe meaning to school spaces, supported embodied learning across physical and digital spaces, and reinforced agency in school spaces. We discuss implications for expanding maker education into formal non-STEM disciplinary spaces and the importance of grounding learning designs in students’ preferred repertoires of practice and incorporate the tools that are intertwined with their ways of being and knowing if we are to support making practices among culturally, racially, and linguistically diverse learners both in and out of schools.

Studies that explored intercultural competence in tele collaborative projects mostly integrated their intercultural learning activities in language learning context, and other learning contexts were neglected by researchers. In the present study, we aimed to address this gap by integrating intercultural learning and information literacy learning. We established a common learning space in which students from China and Indonesia learned together to build their information literacy and intercultural competence. A learning activity was designed in which the participants took Informatics course to learn about VR Tour production. They created virtual tours about local cultural attractions, presented them to their foreign peers, and then discussed how tours of each other can be improved. We investigated whether our learning activity can facilitate information literacy about VR Tour production and intercultural competence development. Participants’ perceptions of VR Tour production technology were also explored. Mixed methods research approach was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Our results showed that the participants developed their information literacy about VR Tour production and their intercultural competence was promoted. In addition, the participants positively perceived VR Tour production technology. Based on the results, it is suggested that a common learning space can be established in which students from different countries can learn together to build up information literacy and intercultural competence. The findings of the present study can guide educators and researchers in their design of learning activities to help students develop intercultural competence and information literacy skills and use them for communication and exchange of culture-related information.

The aim of this paper was to explore the use of autoethnography methodology, a non-traditional and reflective approach, in educational technology research. Autoethnography involves a critical analysis of personal experiences and stories being positioned within the larger cultural, political, and social context. Following an overview of the origin and development of autoethnography as empirical research, the authors discuss autoethnography in the context of educational technology research by considering its epistemological and methodological issues. In this paper, the authors also consider autoethnography and its relationship to other qualitative research approaches. Essential components and summarized evaluation criteria for novice autoethnographers are shared. Lastly, the paper reflects on the potential benefits as well as the challenges that those writing an autoethnography will inevitably face. There is a need for autoethnography research in our field to reveal voices hidden in mainstream educational technology research.

In the field of educational technology and instructional design, research methods are emerging that aim to curate different forms of knowledge and insights beyond traditional research studies, or what Reigeluth and An (in Reigeluth and Carr-Chellman (eds) Instructional-design theories and models: Building a common knowledge base, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, 2009) refer to as “research to prove.” As a result of evolving efforts in this area, editors of research journals in the field are receiving increased submissions employing these methods but have detected some persistent confusion among authors surrounding them. This has resulted in authors submitting articles with muddled methodologies and to outlets that may not be a fit for the work an author seeks to share. It can even be unclear whether authors intentionally employed a specific design-related method prior to reporting. In this piece, we will cover four methods—instructional design cases, case studies, design-based research, and formative evaluation of designs/products—to provide clarity for both graduate students and researchers. For each of these, we will provide definitions, discuss exemplars and features of exemplars, summarize key features that should be present in such a study and its reporting, and provide guidance on front-end intentional design and planning for research studies that employ these methodologies. Additional clarity on these methods can better support scholars and emerging scholars in their roles as researchers, authors, and reviewers.

Videos are an increasingly popular medium for supporting learning in various educational settings. Nowadays, newly designed video-based environments contain enhanced tools that allow for specific interactions with video materials (such as adding annotations and hyperlinks) which may well support generative learning and conceptual understanding. However, to exploit the potentials of such enhanced tools, we need to gain a deeper understanding on the learning processes and outcomes that go along with using these tools. Thus, we conducted a controlled laboratory experiment with 209 participants who were engaged in learning a complex topic by using different enhanced video tools (annotations vs. hyperlinks vs. control group) in different social learning settings (individual vs. collaborative learning in dyads). Findings revealed that participants who learned with hyperlinks and participants in collaborative settings created hypervideo products of higher quality than learners in other conditions. Participants who learned with annotations assessed their knowledge gain higher and had higher results in conceptual understanding when they experienced low cognitive load. With our study we contribute new original work to advance cognitive research on learning with enhanced video learning environments. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Whether or not offering undergraduate educational technology (EdTech) programs has been discussed in the field of educational technology. Some researchers suggested offering EdTech programs at the undergraduate level. This study answered this question by examining how Chinese undergraduate EdTech students perceived their satisfaction with their programs and what factors affect their satisfaction. We conducted a survey investigation with more than 3000 undergraduate EdTech students from more than 100 Chinese universities that offered bachelor’s degrees in EdTech. We performed descriptive and inferential analyses (Multiple Regression Modeling and Multilevel Linear Modeling). The results indicated that (1) the overall undergraduate EdTech students’ satisfaction with their programs has much room for improvement; (2) students were generally less satisfied with the resources or facilities that their programs provided and with their employability; (3) students’ career goals after the undergraduate study were highly centralized to teaching in K-12 schools or obtaining a higher degree; (4) their satisfaction was affected by multiple factors such as region, universality level (ranking), university funding status, students’ academic grades, their willingness to enroll in EdTech programs, and their educational internship experience. Implications are discussed, and suggestions for the program satisfaction improvement are provided.

Teachers’ beliefs such as pedagogical beliefs, self-efficacy, and technology value beliefs are influential to technology integration practice. This study aims to investigate teachers’ beliefs and the impact on their 3D printing integration in science classrooms. A total of 26 K-12 teachers across six states in the U.S. participated in a nationally funded project. Teachers’ STEM education lesson plans were analyzed to assess their 3D printing and STEM integration levels. Teachers’ beliefs were collected through a survey with rating scales adapted from previously validated surveys and several open-ended questions. Correlation analysis was conducted to investigate how teacher beliefs were associated with their 3D printing integration. Thematic analysis of the open-ended questions provided a detailed view on teachers’ experiences and perceptions, which further explained teachers’ beliefs and the impact on their 3D printing integration practice. This study revealed that teachers’ pedagogical, self-efficacy, and technology value beliefs were generally not correlated with their 3D printing integration practices except for a negative correlation between teachers’ self-efficacy in pedagogical content knowledge and their STEM integration levels. Teachers perceived 3D printing integration as beneficial for students, but they encountered a number of challenges including logistic and technical issues, lack of time and resources, insufficient ability to use 3D printers and connect 3D printing with curriculums, and challenges in teaching students with individual differences. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Facebook is widely used and researched. However, though the data generated by educational technology tools and social media platforms other than Facebook have been used for research purposes, very little research has used Facebook posts as a data source—with most studies relying on self-report studies. While it has historically been impractical (or impossible) to use Facebook as a data source, the CrowdTangle platform allows academic researchers to freely access the massive collection of posts on public Facebook pages and groups. In this paper, we first outline how interactions and textual features in these public Facebook data in concert with established methods from educational data mining and learning analytics can be used to scrutinize educational discourse and knowledge sharing at scale. We then provide a primer that offers considerations for researchers before collecting these data (i.e., conducting research ethically and framing the study). The tutorial also covers matters directly pertaining to using CrowdTangle: accessing the CrowdTangle platform, uploading or identifying pages (or groups), and downloading historical data and it includes code using the statistical software and programming language R. We conclude with ideas for future directions for using Facebook posts as data with a focus on how educational researchers can leverage the scale of the available data and the time periods for which data is available to study educational affairs (i.e., issues or topics) and individuals (i.e., people or organizations) and to scrutinize how Facebook itself is used.

In conventional digital game-based learning, geographic maps are generally used to provide students with the whole picture of the gaming contexts, while the concepts to be learned are separately presented as individual gaming objects. Scholars have indicated the problems of such a gaming content design, in which students could encounter difficulties making effective connections between spatial and conceptual knowledge during the learning process, which may influence their learning effectiveness. As a result, it is a crucial and challenging issue to assist students in organizing spatial and conceptual knowledge in contextual learning environments, such as digital games. To solve this problem, an integrated concept map and geographic map-based digital gaming (CM-GMDG) approach is proposed to demonstrate how spatial and conceptual knowledge can be connected in the development of digital games. To investigate the effectiveness of the approach, a quasi-experiment was conducted in a social science course. Two classes of seventh graders in a high school participated in this study. The experimental group (N = 39) adopted the CM-GMDG approach while the control group (N = 23) adopted the conventional geographic map-based digital gaming (GMDG) approach. The results showed that the students using the CM-GMDG approach significantly outperformed those using the GMDG approach on learning achievement. Moreover, the learning behavioral pattern analysis results showed that compared with the control group, students in the experimental group more frequently engaged in knowledge-acquiring behaviors, such as reading learning materials and completing learning tasks. On the other hand, the control group gave up on the learning tasks more frequently by switching the gaming scenes and stopping answering questions. This indicated that the CM-GMDG approach was more helpful for guiding students to focus on their learning tasks than the GMDG approach.

An important course in the computer science discipline is ‘Data Structures and Algorithms’ (DSA). The coursework lays emphasis on experiential learning for building students’ programming and algorithmic reasoning abilities. Teachers set up a repertoire of formative programming exercises to engage students with different programmatic scenarios to build their know-what, know-how and know-why competencies. Automated assessment tools can assist teachers in inspecting, marking, and grading of programming exercises and also support them in providing students with formative feedback in real-time. This article describes the design of a bespoke automarker that was integrated into the DSA coursework and therefore served as an instructional tool. Activity theory has provided the pedagogical lens to examine how the automarker-mediated instructional strategy enabled self-reflection and assisted students in their formative learning journey. Learner experiences gathered from 39 students enrolled in DSA course shows that the automarker facilitated practice-based learning to advance students know-what, know-why and know-how skills. This study contributes to both curricula and pedagogic practice by showcasing the integration of an automated assessment strategy with programming-related coursework to inform future teaching and assessment practice.

This study is focusing on synthesizing the theoretical and designing framework of constructivist gamification environment models to enhance ill-structured problem solving in learning science. The research model used is based on model development (phase 1) proposed by Richey & Klein. This research consists of two phases as follow: (1) to analyze and synthesize the theoretical framework; (2) to synthesize the designing framework of the constructivist gamification environment model to enhance ill-structured problem solving. The findings of the theoretical analysis shows that the theoretical framework is built upon four main pillars: psychological, pedagogical, technological, and problem-solving bases. Synthesizing the design framework of a development model is based on the findings of theoretical analysis. Five cognitive aspects make up the designing framework: (1) the stimulation of cognitive structure and encouragement of problem solving; (2) the support for cognitive equilibrium; (3) the support for enlarging cognitive structure; (4) the enhancement of ill-structured problem solving; and (5) the support for knowledge construction. The constructivist gamification environment model consists of seven components, namely: (1) the problem base; (2) the learning resource; (3) the cognitive tools; (4) the collaboration; (5) the problem solution; (6) the scaffolding; and (7) the coaching.

This scoping review of research explores the use of educational technologies for adult literacy, specifically for those with low literacy skills. The sample explores research published since 2010 across four major databases, yielding 21 relevant peer-reviewed articles published through the end of 2020. Half of the final included studies were conducted in North America (12 in US and 1 in Canada), and 8 were conducted in other countries around the world. Technology interventions ranged greatly across 15 separate interventions identified, allowing for little to no comparison. Methodologies and quality ranged significantly, with data mining, descriptive surveys, and quasi-experimental designs as the most predominant methods. Instructional strategies ranged greatly as well, from gamification to practice to direct instruction to word highlights. Among the included studies, there is one educational technology that has been studied extensively enough to suggest readiness for scalable implementation and randomized control trials along with promising early results from other interventions. Findings from the scoping review indicate that establishing a research agenda and community in this space, along with future studies detailing participant literacy levels and instructional design features with greater precision, as well as explicitly corresponding design to literacy skills, are significant ways in which educational technology researchers and developers could further the work on this important educational problem.

Educational Design Research (EDR) employs a diverse range of methods to study learning, teaching, design, and technology—and new ones are shared in this special issue. We contend that a focus on methods inherently requires examination of the questions they are used to answer and the ways in which the resulting findings advance scientific understanding. Specifically, this article focuses on obtaining and guarding methodological fit in EDR. It describes three main orientations to research inherent in EDR trajectories (research for, on, and through interventions), the kinds of questions we ask in each, how our methods evolve accordingly, and challenges to alignment that are often encountered along the way. Thereafter, it offers examples of the three orientations in two different doctoral studies on innovative educational technologies, each of which demonstrates methodological fit as well as relevance for practice despite the phase-related shifts in focus, questions, and methods. The article concludes with a framework for assessing methodological fit both within and across the three orientations to EDR in two studies, along with broader recommendations for conducting EDR in the field of educational technology.

This paper presents our efforts to develop a scale for measuring students’ learning experiences with knowledge-based chatbots in massive open online courses (MOOCs) through three studies. In Study 1, we conducted a qualitative synthesis of the current literature and analyzed students’ open-ended responses regarding their experiences with a knowledge-based chatbot. Consequently, we identified eight salient domains (i.e., social presence, teaching presence, cognitive presence, self-regulation, co-regulation, perceived ease of use, behavioral intention, and enjoyment), resulting in the creation of 53 items. In Study 2, we selected 30 items that received more than 80% agreement from five experts. Finally, in Study 3, we reported the findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the final scale based on student responses (N = 237) and presented 22 items across five domains (i.e., social presence, teaching and cognitive presence, self-regulation, perceived ease of use, and behavioral intention). This research contributes to the current literature by providing an instrument to measure students’ learning experiences with knowledge-based chatbots in MOOCs, which is presently unavailable. The scale developed in this study could be employed for further research aiming to systematically develop knowledge-based chatbots and investigate the relationships between salient factors influencing students’ learning experiences in MOOCs.

This article examines a critical issue in digital literacy assessment design when technological changes are happening with escalating speed in our society. There have been many assessment studies of digital literacy (DL) for diverse purposes and across different geographic and socioeconomic (geo-socioeconomic) contexts. While the assessment framework, instrument design, and technology platforms used for conducting these assessments differ, what remains common is the lack of explicit discussion about the possible role of the technology used and item design in affecting the measure DL. There is an apparent, implicit assumption that DL assessment is similar to the assessment of other academic achievements such as reading literacy and numeracy, which should ideally be measured independent of the specific technologies or task contexts adopted in the assessment. Recent evidence from a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) commissioned study on a Digital Literacy Global Framework (DLGF) shows that the DL needed to accomplish the same task is heavily dependent on the devices and tools used under different the geo-socioeconomic contexts (Law et al. in A global framework of reference on digital literacy skills for indicator 4.4.2, 2018). Drawing on the DLGF findings and a critical examination of the assessment designs in large-scale international assessment tests, this paper puts forward a product-lifecycle and experience dependence (PLED) perspective to guide the design and interpretation of DL assessment.

The main purpose of this paper is to add empirical data to the nascent field of metaverse learning and teaching by examining factors affecting student participation and their perceived experiences of different metaverse platforms. For data collection, 57 Korean undergraduates participated in a self-administered questionnaire and a short reflective essay regarding their experiences on three metaverse platforms (ifland, Gather Town, & Frame VR). For data analysis, exploratory factor analysis was first executed to derive the underlying factors that can explain student participation in metaverse platforms. The social and interactive learning as well as individualized and behavioral learning were identified as two main contributing factors. While the three platforms had no statistical difference in terms of social presence, students’ sentimentally perceived differences among them. The sentiment analysis shows that 60.00% of ifland users were positive, followed by 53.66% of Frame VR users and 51.22% of Gather Town users. Furthermore, the additional keyword analysis shows why students expressed the perceived experiences of each platform in a different way. Given that the success of metaverse instruction can be dependent upon whether students regard it as beneficial, such measurements of student perception on the effectiveness of learning on metaverse platforms can offer meaningful recommendations for tech-savvy educators.

Considering the increasing importance of educational technologies and the debates about the role of technology in education, it is of great importance to reveal research trends in educational technologies. It is also possible to present the big picture of trends and the comparative role of the UK in this picture, which is one of the main countries leading the research trends in the educational technology field. Carrying the existing studies in the literature to a wider range with the comparison of England and the world will levered the literature up to a seminal point. This study is aiming to identify and compare research trends in the educational technology field both in the world and the UK. For this purpose, the studies from 1965 to 2020 indexed in the ERIC database were reviewed by using data mining techniques. The analysis of studies indexed in the field of educational technologies in the ERIC database presented in terms of four fields: Descriptor, Title, Abstract, and Audience. The data were analyzed in terms of these variables and divided into four categories: target audience, methodology, approaches, and technology. Findings have important implications for the field.

The advent of new technology is breaking the boundaries of traditional teaching and learning patterns with virtual worlds (VW) creating new frontiers in education. Previous research has explored the use of VW within educational settings. However, limited studies have investigated the transition processes that educators experience by adopting VW based online tools during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative exploratory study investigated 18 Chilean lecturers’ teaching experiences using a three-dimensional computer-mediated environment: Second Life. Findings suggest that changing from traditional to virtual teaching context is a complex process, which (re)shaped the lecturers’ various senses of identity and agency towards different instructional approaches resulting in the sense of in-betweenness with multiple digital competencies. These changes indicated that they taught in an ‘in-between’ mode mapped by different teaching mediations. The participants’ teaching experiences of shaping a sense of in-betweenness could provide a unique theoretical lens to explore instructors’ teaching experiences from traditional to a technology-mediated online setting.

Learner engagement in online courses is impacted by a wide variety of factors. The purpose of this study was to understand to what extent course community support and personal community support influence learner engagement. Students who had recently completed an online course in a small art and design school were surveyed on their level of engagement in the course, experience of the course community of inquiry, and their level of personal social support, with 74 students participating. The survey responses were used in a stepwise multiple regression analysis to create a model that explains to what extent course community and personal community explain variations in learner engagement. 74. 40% of variations in learner engagement could be explained on the basis of course community and personal community support. The results are significant in that they help course designers, instructors, and university support staff understand the interaction between course community, personal community, and learner engagement. That understanding could be used to design both online course content and intervention strategies to maximize learner engagement.