Charting the development of technology-enhanced learning developments across the UK higher education sector: a longitudinal perspective (2001–2012)

This article reviews key findings from six surveys of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) across the UK higher education (HE) sector, conducted by Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association in association with Jisc. Updating the findings presented by Jenkins, Browne, Walker, and Hewitt [2010. The development of technology enhanced learning: Findings from a 2008 survey of UK higher education institutions, Interactive Learning Environments. First published on: 22 January 2010 (iFirst)], the article reports on the emerging and planned patterns of TEL across the UK HE sector over the last decade. Our analysis shows that against the backdrop of Higher Education Funding Council for England capital funding, institutions have made considerable investments in technology and infrastructure to support learning and teaching – specifically in the domain of learning management and assessment systems. While the drivers for TEL development have consistently focused on enhancing teaching and learning over the years, the subject of this investment has been directed to the implementation of enterprise-wide systems to manage and control learning processes, delivering efficiencies of scale and standardised learning experiences through centrally managed solutions, rather than support for student-controlled tools. In contrast, the diffusion of technologies supporting collaborative learning and knowledge sharing has been more a feature of local TEL provision, as evidenced through the informal learning practice of students and departmental projects. The evolution of course delivery models and pedagogic developments supported through the use of technology have been noticeably much slower to realise; growth in “web-dependent” rather than “supplementary” course design models has been quite limited across the sector and we have observed negligible growth in distance learning provision over this period. The evidence suggests that challenges remain in developing course delivery models which focus on active student learning, maximising the opportunities that web and mobile technologies now offer for interactive student-centred learning design. We speculate that the recent upsurge of interest in Massive Open Online Courses may act as a catalyst in this respect, in driving campus-based courses to embrace new learning models supported by TEL tools.     

Is successful scaffolding an illusion? – Shifting patterns of responsibility and control in teacher-student interaction during a long-term learning project

This study aims to examinethe process of scaffolding in terms ofteachers' and students' discussions, and howtransition from teacher regulation to studentregulation takes place during a learningproject carried out in a web-based learningenvironment. The participants were twosecondary school teachers from separateschools, together with their students. The datawere collected through videotaping. The resultsshowed the relationships betweenteacher-student discussions and teachers'conceptions of their role. The data as a wholeindicated a transition from other- toself-regulation in the classroom of oneteacher, but not the other. These findings arediscussed in terms of the teacher's role aschallenger, monitor and evaluator of studentlearning, and the implications for successfulscaffolding.     

现状与反思：社会性软件国内教育应用研究十年

2003年国内开始了关于社会性软件教育应用的研究,十年的研究历程积累了大量的研究成果.文章采用文献计量法和内容分析法,以发展的视角分析了不同时期的研究重点,分类梳理了研究内容,并对其研究弱区做了深刻反思与前景展望,希望推动社会性软件教育应用研究的发展.     

技术促进教学：发展、演进和启示

文章以媒介技术史框架为基础,回顾了教学的“技术”发展史,分析了口传时期、手写时代、印刷时代、电子时代以及数字时代等5个不同媒介技术时代中,技术对教与学的方式、教师知识体系、教材和学习环境等4个教学要素的影响历程及其发展趋势,从中可以窥见：技术是何以促进教学的.最后针对当前国内教学出现的问题,从“技术促进教学”的视角,提出应对策略.     

欧洲技术促进学习研究新进展

技术促进学习研究是学习科学的一个研究领域,文章通过典型案例着重分析了欧洲技术促进学习研究领域在移动学习理论与实践、技术支持的正式与非正式学习设计、学习技术的设计应用、技术环境下的未来学习、技术促进学习研究社区等五个方面的主要研究及其进展,并简述了该领域的主要研究机构及其异同,评析了技术促进学习研究领域所做的研究.     

Multimedia integration for language e-learning： Content, context and the e-dossier

In the education world, it is widely accepted that language learning is one of the pioneering disciplines in the application and use of the information and communication technologies, initially preceded by the widespread use of audiovisual resources which, finally integrated in the digital space, bring about the use of multimedia. Additionally, language learning has greatly contributed to standardizing lesson plans. They set the basis for learning design, one of the last advances in the pedagogical organization of education through the use of computers in learning managing systems. Most recently, language learning has also played an innovative role in the implementation of portfolios to education. These three perspectives address different issues for e-learning： the access to content through technology; the design of the learning initially with the help of tutors and then applying institutional frameworks for their own personal learning processes; and the edition of the resulting e-learning experience as evidence with the e-dossier, a part of the e-portfolio. Currently, the web is evolving towards its original function as the read/write web where the user, apart from accessing information, can create their own information and communicate more interactively, using technology-enhanced learning environments to integrate text and multimedia for real audiences both in the classroom and outside. Thus, taking language learning guided by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the authors present here a complete e-learning system which integrates textual as well as multimedia facilities to acquire learning content, edit learning design and report learning experiences.     

Technology-enhanced learning and teaching in higher education: what is ‘enhanced’ and how do we know? A critical literature review

The term technology-enhanced learning (TEL) is used to describe the application of information and communication technologies to teaching and learning. Explicit statements about what the term is understood to mean are rare and it is not evident that a shared understanding has been developed in higher education of what constitutes an enhancement of the student learning experience. This article presents a critical review and assessment of how TEL is interpreted in recent literature. It examines the purpose of technology interventions, the approaches adopted to demonstrate the role of technology in enhancing the learning experience, differing ways in which enhancement is conceived and the use of various forms evidence to substantiate claims about TEL. Thematic analysis enabled categories to be developed and relationships explored between the aims of TEL interventions, the evidence presented, and the ways in which enhancement is conceived.     

Equipping novice teachers with a learning map to enhance teaching practice

Using tools to support learning design has been proven feasible in improving the integration of technology into the curriculum. However, novice teachers are faced with two major issues, including their limited experience in learning design and limited ability in using new technologies. Learning map is explored and developed in e-Textbooks to serves as a scaffolding for novice teachers during their development into expert teachers. This paper presents a case study in which learning map is integrated into learning design with associated resources in an e-Textbook authoring environment. The participants were instructed to complete a learning design task for an e-Textbook during a one-hour session and then complete a questionnaire afterward. The results indicate that novice teachers value the learning map for learning design in e-Textbooks regardless of their background in ICT teaching and learning design. Novice teachers adopt positive attitudes toward the use of templates because of their numerous benefits. The teachers also suggested that better quality templates should be integrated into the authoring tool to distinguish the advantage of e-Textbook learning design from that of a traditional book and to provide them with additional options.     

A spreadsheet-based visualized Mindtool for improving students’ learning performance in identifying relationships between numerical variables

In this study, a spreadsheet-based visualized Mindtool was developed for improving students’ learning performance when finding relationships between numerical variables by engaging them in reasoning and decision-making activities. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted on the “phenomena of climate on earth” unit of an elementary school geography course. The experimental results showed that the spreadsheet-based visualized Mindtool significantly benefited the students in terms of improving their learning achievement and promoting their learning attitudes and satisfaction. Moreover, the cognitive load of the students was significantly decreased, indicating the effectiveness of this approach in helping students comprehend, learn content and organize their knowledge. To further investigate the learning behaviors of high-achievement and low-achievement students in using the spreadsheet-based Mindtool, a learning pattern analysis was conducted by coding the students’ behaviors recorded on video.     

Interactive Effects of Prior Knowledge and Material Format on Cooperative Teaching

The purpose of the experiment was to determine the separate and combined effects of varied learning materials (knowledge maps or texts) and teaching props (overview maps or outlines) on the learning of 2 different sets of material within the context of cooperative teaching. The participants were assigned to 1 of 4 cooperative teaching groups that used knowledge maps or texts as study materials, teaching props, or both. Each dyad studied material on probability theory (PT) and on the autonomic nervous system (ANS). One participant was responsible for teaching 1 set of material and was the learner for the other set of material. The teachers significantly outperformed the learners on measures of recall that included content and organization. The effects of format of the study materials or communication props depended on the prior knowledge of the participants. Format of the materials affected scores on organization for the PT passage but affected the content of the recall of the ANS passage. The results of the experiment delineated some of the conditions under which knowledge maps and texts are effective as learning or teaching tools.     

An Educational Psychologist's Perspective on Cognitive Neuroscience

Byrnes and Fox present a thoughtful article on a neglected but important topic for educational psychologists. Some major contributions are their emphasis on the need for consistency in educational theory and neuroscience research, the lack of automatic correspondence between neuroscience research and educational applications, the need for educator awareness of neuroscience research, the importance of development, and the influence of early education. Limitations of the neuroscience perspective for education include inadequate examination of contemporary theories of learning and motivation, the generality of cognitive processes, the influence of student beliefs, and the role of self-regulation. Suggestions for future research are given.