ETR&D

Project-based learning (PBL) has been identified as an effective pedagogy for instructors to help students to learn interdisciplinary knowledge, problem-solving skills, modes of thinking, and collaborative practices through solving problems in a real-world context. However, previous studies reported that instructors from K-12 to tertiary learning environments found it challenging to implement such a pedagogy for various reasons. The emergence of PBL E-learning platforms in the recent decade has attracted increasing interest in adoption and seems to provide a solution to tackle the difficulties in PBL implementation. Yet little is known about designing these platforms and how they facilitate the PBL learning process and management. In the current study, we conducted a multiple case survey study on 16 PBL learning platforms in English and Chinese, collected data on their features and functions, categorized them according to their services provided, and analyzed how they tackle the implementation challenges. Additionally, we identified four trends in PBL development as pedagogy, the skills, and competence required for teachers and students to successfully carry out PBL via e-learning platforms and provide suggestions to improve and refine the platform design for educational technologists and related stakeholders. The limitations of this study and the future research direction are included.

Since the late twentieth century, with the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), the IoT covers the application of comprehensive knowledge and technology in the fields of circuitry, physics, mechanics, and information, making it a suitable topic for hands-on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities. The IoT covers a large amount of knowledge, practical skills, and programming skills in STEM fields, both teaching and learning the content can be difficult. Thus, this study used gamification with the 6E model and the software development method as the teaching strategies to explore their effects on high school students’ computer programming self-efficacy, IoT knowledge, and hands-on performance in IoT learning activities. In this study, a quasi-experimental design was used for 12 weeks, and the 132 students who participated in the experiment were divided into Experimental Group 1 (EG1, 66 students using gamification with the 6E model), Experimental Group 2 (EG2, 31 students using the 6E model only), and the Control Group (CG, 35 students using the software development method). Through Analysis of Covariance, the results showed that the students in EG 1 achieved higher academic performance in terms of computer programming self-efficacy, IoT knowledge, and hands-on skills. The results of the lag sequence analysis of behavioral patterns showed that all the students required frequent two-way communication with the teachers and needed to communicate with their group members. The students in EG 1 exhibited positive interactions and took the initiative in asking for help from other students, which indicated that the students in this group achieved better learning outcomes. In addition, those interested in exploring STEM hands-on activities would benefit from our findings.

There is little consensus about the nature of teachers’ digital competencies in Higher Education. Moreover, existing digital competence frameworks have largely been developed for teachers in secondary education. In response to this, the current study focuses on developing and validating a framework of digital competencies for teachers in Higher Education. First, a review was conducted to determine the state of digital competence research regarding dimensions and definition of digital competence. In a next step, similarities and differences between existing digital competence frameworks were identified. Based on the outcomes of the review and the framework comparison, a framework was developed in an iterative process through expert meetings with policy makers, experts in the field of educational technology, and validated with practitioners. The new framework includes four dimensions of teachers’ digital competencies: (1) Teaching practice, (2) Empowering students for a digital society, (3) Teachers’ digital literacy, and (4) Teachers’ professional development. The resulting Higher Education Digital Competence (HeDiCom) framework will provide guidance and clearer expectations of teachers’ digital competency. Ultimately, improving teachers’ digital competencies will contribute to improving the quality of digital competencies of the students.

Pedagogical agents were found to enhance learning but studies on the emotional effects of such agents are still missing. While first results show that pedagogical agents with an emotionally positive design might especially foster learning, these findings might depend on the gender of the agent and the learner. This study investigated whether emotional expressions performed by an on-screen instructor were able to increase learning outcomes while considering differences the gender of the agent and the learner. In a 2 (neutral vs. enthusiastic expressions) × 2 (female vs. male agent) between-subject design with additional consideration of the gender of the learner, data of 129 participants was collected. Results revealed that the manipulation of enthusiasm lead to higher perceptions of positive emotions. In addition, a pedagogical agent who performed enthusiastic expressions led to a higher retention but not transfer performance. In terms of the gender of the agent and the learner, male learners retained knowledge better when they watched the agent performing enthusiastic expression irrespective of the persona gender. Female learners, however, retained knowledge only better when a female agent performed enthusiastic expressions. Results are discussed in the light of the positivity principle, model-observer similarity hypotheses and current theories on social cues in multimedia learning.

Welcome to this special issue, focussing on teachers’ digital competencies in Higher Education. The articles in this special issue explore the question of how digital competencies in higher education are conceptualized after the Great Online Transition, during and after the pandemic. A few of the topics addressed in the special issue are: new competency frameworks, the issue of disciplines and artificial intelligence and looks into the future of higher education learning and teaching. In this preface to the special issue, we first present a brief introduction to the context and the problem statement. We then provide a summary of each of the ten papers included in this special issue, we present how they are related and how each article makes a unique contribution to the main goal of the special issue. Finally, the implications are discussed together with suggestions for future research.

Future success for online teaching can be described in terms of competencies, the knowledge, skills, and affect and motivation that as component parts undergird successful performance, or in terms of competence, the behaviors that demonstrate ability to perform in an online setting. Either framing could aid higher education to consider how to foster online teaching excellence. Yet, considering this dichotomy instead as a continuum emphasizes a fruitful point in between to target for faculty professional learning. This linking, middle view, emphasizes the processes faculty use to recognize what the situation demands and make decisions about what to do and operationalize competencies into competence. This concept paper presents a set of conceptual principles that can serve as guidance to organize faculty decision making when integrating EdTech into higher education courses. Drawing on an existing dataset of interview data from two studies of faculty learning to integrate a new EdTech, instructors’ experiences with each principle are illustrated. This provides opportunities to see how faculty organized decisions aligned with the principles and how faculty needs were met when principles described the project’s support conditions. This approach shows how universities could benefit from framing EdTech support in terms of embedding representations to first build, then guide, technical and pedagogical knowledge and skill. Providing guiding principles may then motivate faculty to acquire and assemble those competencies in context-sensitive ways for instructional decision making.

This study proposed a robot-assisted digital storytelling approach to reduce hospitalized children’s anxiety about intravenous injections and to improve their therapeutic communication and therapeutic engagement. In order to verify the effectiveness of the robot-assisted digital storytelling approach, a randomized controlled study was implemented. A total of 47 children from a regional hospital were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 21) and a control group (n = 26). The experimental group adopted the robot-assisted digital storytelling approach in health education for intravenous injections, while the control group received video-based health education. The study results indicated that the proposed robot-assisted digital storytelling approach not only reduced the children’s anxiety, but also had positive effects on children’s communication about intravenous injections, emotions during hospitalization, and therapeutic engagement. As a consequence, it is suggested that educators and researchers consider adopting robot-assisted digital storytelling to facilitate nursing clinical health education for children.

The pandemic has catalyzed a significant shift to online/blended teaching and learning where teachers apply emerging technologies to enhance their students’ learning outcomes. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has gained its popularity in online learning environments during the pandemic to assist students’ learning. However, many of these AI tools are new to teachers. They may not have rich technical knowledge to use AI educational applications to facilitate their teaching, not to mention developing students’ AI digital capabilities. As such, there is a growing need for teachers to equip themselves with adequate digital competencies so as to use and teach AI in their teaching environments. There are few existing frameworks informing teachers of necessary AI competencies. This study first explores the opportunities and challenges of employing AI systems and how they can enhance teaching, learning and assessment. Then, aligning with generic digital competency frameworks, the DigCompEdu framework and P21’s framework for twenty-first century learning were adapted and revised to accommodate AI technologies. Recommendations are proposed to support educators and researchers to promote AI education in their classrooms and academia.

This study explores the feasibility of forming detailed inferences about museum visitor behavior based on analysis of data collected via Dr. Discovery—a mobile question-and-answer app. We analyzed 5656 questions asked by 795 visitor groups recorded by Dr. Discovery across two museums in the American Southwest. Analysis of this data supported the act of intuiting visitor movement through museum exhibit halls without the use of costly tracking or location technology by leveraging question keyword content, knowledge of exhibit hall layout, and question timestamp information. Additionally, data on question topic frequency enabled us to infer visitor engagement levels with specific exhibit hall content. We conclude that analysis of seemingly limited app-based data carries implications for the practice of museum evaluation since evaluators can gain evidence-based insight into visitor behaviors as well as illustrate helpful and promising technology-supported alternatives for conducting affordable, dependable, and scalable evaluations.

This experimental investigation seeks to confirm and extend previous investigations that resource interdependence vs. independence during problem-solving relatively extends the problem representation phase before convergence on a solution. In this current investigation, ninth-grade Korean native language participants (n = 240) worked online to complete either a well-structured or an ill-structured problem in either independent triads where all of the members were provided with all of the information needed to solve the problem, or in interdependent triads where members were each provided with different portions of the information needed. The discussions were analyzed using a content analysis rubric from Engelmann and Hesse (JAMA 5:299–319, 2010), and knowledge structures were elicited as concept maps and essays and then analyzed using a graph-theoretic psychometric network scaling approach. Analysis of transcripts of the triad interactions showed a similar pattern of divergence and then convergence for the well-structured and the ill-structured problems that confirmed the previous investigations. As anticipated, interdependent triads performed relatively better on the ill-structured problem perhaps due to the extended divergence phase, while independent triads were better on the well-structured problem perhaps due to a rapid transition to the convergence phase. Knowledge structure analysis of group maps shows that the interdependent triad maps resembled the fully explicated problem space, while the independent triad maps most resembled the narrow problem solution space. Suggestions for practice include first increasing students’ awareness of divergent and convergent thinking, allowing enough time for the activity, and also requiring teams to submit a problem space artifact before working on a solution. Such skills are a basis for learning in school, but more importantly, will prepare students for a world where change is a constant and learning never stops.

Disciplines in Higher Education have their own interpretations of what is essential knowledge that influences what is taught, how teaching occurs, and the role of digital tools. Disciplinary culture is dynamic and evolving, informed by disciplinary research and technology improvement. During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital solutions enabled ongoing teaching when undergraduate courses could not be taught on campus, in lecture theatres, seminar rooms, laboratories, or in the field. Using digital tools and changes in teaching practices has created a context where Higher Education teachers must consider how future learning and teaching should occur. To explore this, a cross-discipline team used appreciative inquiry framed in complexity theory to examine how teaching in undergraduate programmes is changing in the digital age and implications for Higher Education teachers. The research identifies how digital technologies influence undergraduate programmes in Applied Statistics, Computer Science, Critical Indigenous Studies, Geography, and Information Systems. Analysis of the case studies identified how disciplinary culture, context, and technology combine to influence pedagogical practice and digital capabilities needed to teach in undergraduate programmes. We conclude that Higher Education teachers require capability in appropriate pedagogical practice that aligns with disciplinary culture and the technologies available.

In the rush for the Covid-19 pandemic's online transition, the pursuit of quality online learning was frequently overshadowed by the urgency of emergency instruction online. As blended and online teaching became an integral part of education, there emerged a need to investigate how faculty coped with this transition and what competencies they might be acquiring. In this paper, we report on international research about higher education faculty’s elicited dispositions and needs while they engaged with online teaching (OT), as these shape aspects of teacher competencies for integrating technology. This study aims to identify factors that shaped faculty competencies as pandemic restrictions forced transitions to OT. Snapshot surveys were conducted at two different phases of the pandemic, i.e. during the acceleration phase and the stasis one, approximately twelve months later. The surveys inquired about internal (e.g. enthusiasm and resolutions) and external (e.g. support) factors of faculty’s OT perceptions during two phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, enabling monitoring of the phenomenon beyond the assessment of the first response to the emergency. Results revealed different patterns of dispositions and diverse uses of technological affordances to foster online learning. These patterns were also found to differ over time, highlighting conditions possibly enabling or hindering the development of competencies for OT during different phases of the pandemic. One important finding is that there was a change from internal confidence to institutional support being a strong predictor of intentions to continue OT, over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a result of the Great Online Transition (GOT) that occurred during COVID-19, it is increasingly necessary to understand the digital competencies that are required for online and blended learning in the postpandemic era. Postquarantine, higher education institutions must return to on-campus face-to-face learning, a situation which raises questions concerning how to retain the lessons learned from this period of the forced acquisition and innovation of online teaching competencies. In this article, we present the results of an interview-based study of teachers’ experiences of online teaching during the pandemic. One hundred fifty-one teachers were interviewed over a period of 2 years during the pandemic. We conducted a hybrid thematic analysis to systematize teachers’ experiences. Our results show that despite the problems faced due to the disruption caused by the pandemic, several lessons were learned: teachers employed an array of digital tools to maintain content delivery and promote interaction, deepened their understanding of course design and assessment, and developed an empathic disposition to understand students’ situations. We build upon these experiences to generate recommendations for developing digital competencies following the GOT.

In a very short time, higher education transitioned to online and blended learning, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Although research literature is replete with rationale for instructors to develop digital competence during the Great Online Transition, research on the correlates of digital competence and effort expectancy in relation to their work engagement has remained insufficient. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the effects of digital competence and effort expectancy and how they predict teachers’ work engagement. A sample of 321 in-service teachers selected from universities in China took part in this study. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that teachers’ digital competence positively and significantly correlated with their work engagement and their effort expectancy. In addition, effort expectancy significantly influenced teachers’ work engagement. Lastly, effort expectancy, as the mediator variable, was found to mediate the relationship between teachers’ digital competence and their work engagement. Implications were suggested for improving teachers’ work engagement to support digital shifts.

Educational research is reflective of the nature and structure of national and regional education systems and their historical evolution. Educational technology research, as an area within educational research, reflects this case particularly prominently. Although individual countries and regions have varying research traditions, the publication of research in English as the scientific lingua franca can lead to missing nuances in terminology, which is often not reflected upon. Despite this, the exploration of research from different countries can still uncover diverse topical clusters. This study aims to identify the research topics in educational technology research in three countries (Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), each with their own research traditions, through the terms used. To this end, a bibliometric analysis of 3034 article abstracts and keywords from 29 English-language Web of Science journals in the field of education and educational research was conducted, with a focus on educational technology. In addition, the quantitative findings are comparatively analysed by considering the corresponding cultural clusters. Main findings include diverse research foci in the three countries, also showing that distinct research traditions are still present, despite using English as lingua franca. Therefore, research articles written in English by non-English authors often do not reflect the same meanings in each country, despite using the same words. The conclusions reflect upon the need to establish ways of understanding the traditions behind those research articles and build collaborative systems to illustrate nuances in this research.

Higher education has increasingly adopted online and blended models of teaching. Guided by institutional policy and digital competence frameworks, the integration of digital tools and competences is perceived as essential. The pivot to emergency remote teaching (ERT) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic increased the use of digital technologies and the need to deploy and support digital competences. Researchers captured a range of remote teaching practices in higher education across this period that highlight the adaptability of teachers despite a lack of preparation for such an event. This study reviewed empirical studies of ERT from the past 2 years to derive a conceptual frame for ERT digital competence, which was then applied as a lens to analyse teaching or digital competency frameworks from Australian universities. The findings of this paper demonstrate the pre-pandemic teaching and digital competency frameworks captured digital competencies relevant to ERT in varied ways. Practically, the findings provide a starting point for understanding digital competences needed for ERT to ensure future preparedness in responding to a crisis that disrupts educational provision. We also suggest universities can better support the development of teachers’ digital competence through practical operationalisations that connect technical and pedagogical knowledge, make digital possibilities across modes of delivery explicit, and acknowledge the need to protect wellbeing of educators.

An increase in online and hybrid education during and after the Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the infiltration of digital media into mainstream university teaching. Global challenges, such as ecological crises, call for further radical changes in university teaching, requiring an even richer convergence of ‘natural,’ ‘human’ and ‘digital’. In this paper, we argue that this convergence demands us to go beyond ‘the great online transition’ and reframe how we think about university, teachers’ roles and their competencies to use digital technologies. We focus on what it takes to be a teacher in a sustainable university and consider emerging trends at three levels of the educational ecosystem—global developments (macro), teachers’ local practices (meso), and daily activities (micro). Through discussion of examples of ecopedagogies and pedagogies of care and self-care, we argue that teaching requires a fluency to embrace different ways of knowing and collective awareness of how the digital is entwined with human practices within and across different levels of the educational ecosystem. For this, there is a need to move beyond person-centric theorisations of teacher digital competencies towards more holistic, ecological conceptualisations. It also requires going beyond functionalist views of teachers’ roles towards enabling their agentive engagement with a future-oriented, sustainable university mission.