Human and social factors affecting the decision of students to accept e-learning

It is significant to highlight that educational technologies cannot improve academic performance if they are not widely accepted and used. Unfortunately, the decision not to accept e-learning continues to be a fundamental issue. The current research provided an alternative lens to view a decision to accept and use technology in a developing country landscape. Accordingly, the present study focused on the impact of human and social factors on the decision to accept e-learning. The undergraduate students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) formed the contextual setting. The theoretical framework employed was a modified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. Accordingly, a survey questionnaire was used to employ a dataset of 204 and 15 students in April 2015 for quantitative and qualitative data. Overall, the principal findings show that social influence, attitude and perceived usefulness, stress, satisfaction and fatigue are critical to behavioural intention to accept e-learning. Meanwhile, strong correlations between perceived usefulness and social influence; previous e-learning experience and average time spent using e-learning; previous e-learning experience and behavioural intention demonstrate how the human and social factors influence the e-learning acceptance culture. Ultimately, the contribution provided valuable insights on how to speed up the process of adoption, the use and continuance of e-learning by an understanding of human and social factors. Moreover, recognising human, social and cultural components make it possible to improve e-learning experiences of users. The implications suggest that a better integration of human and social factors to e-learning may help reduce forms of e-learning challenges and shed new insights for theory.     

Tug‐o‐where: situating mobilities of learning (t)here

This article explores ‘mobilities’ as a research framework for learning not so much in terms of what has to be done to enhance learning using mobile technologies. Instead it focuses on our embodied ways of knowing and learning by ‘being mobile’ in physical and mediated spaces. It reviews current mobility frameworks used in mobile learning research and other technology integration studies. It proposes a practice‐based mobility agenda for learning by ‘setting in motion’ not just technologies, but also bodies and spaces from a sociological perspective and a phenomenological standpoint. It seeks to understand what is being done – the re‐configurations of bodies, spaces and technologies in a mobile society that is increasingly characterised by media convergence and ubiquitous connections and communication. To move educational research, a conceptual framework that articulates body‐types in relation to technologies is discussed.     

E-learning in engineering education: a theoretical and empirical study of the Algerian higher education institution

Technology-mediated education or e-learning is growing globally both in scale and delivery capacity due to the large diffusion of the ubiquitous information and communication technologies (ICT) in general and the web technologies in particular. This statement has not yet been fully supported by research, especially in developing countries such as Algeria. The purpose of this paper was to identify directions for addressing the needs of academics in higher education institutions in Algeria in order to adopt the e-learning approach as a strategy to improve quality of education. The paper will report results of an empirical study that measures the readiness of the Algerian higher education institutions towards the implementation of ICT in the educational process and the attitudes of faculty members towards the application of the e-learning approach in engineering education. Three main objectives were targeted, namely: (a) to provide an initial evaluation of faculty members’ attitudes and perceptions towards web-based education; (b) reporting on their perceived requirements for implementing e-learning in university courses; (c) providing an initial input for a collaborative process of developing an institutional strategy for e-learning.

Statistical analysis of the survey results indicates that the Algerian higher education institution, which adopted the Licence – Master and Doctorate educational system, is facing a big challenge to take advantage of emerging technological innovations and the advent of e-learning to further develop its teaching programmes and to enhance the quality of education in engineering fields. The successful implementation of this modern approach is shown to depend largely on a set of critical success factors that would include:

1. The extent to which the institution will adopt a formal and official e-learning strategy.

2. The extent to which faculty members will adhere and adopt this strategy and develop ownership of the various measures in the context of their teaching and research responsibilities.

3. The extent to which the university will offer adequate support in terms of training, software platform administration, online resource development and impact monitoring and assessment.

     

Potential for Using Mobile and Networking Technologies in Teaching

The article investigates the accessibility of mobile and networking technologies to schoolchildren of different ages living in various areas and how they use these technologies. The author considers the potential ways in which modern technologies can be used in education. The potential benefits of such technologies are particularly promising for rural schools. The article comments on the modern trend to create a seamless educational environment on the basis of e-learning.     

Rethinking e-learning support strategies

This paper discusses an e-learning support team model developed as part of a new e-learning strategy within a tertiary education polytechnic. Based upon a community of practice model, the e-Team supports the establishment of e-learning and m-learning (mobile learning) throughout the institution as a catalyst for the adoption of social constructivist pedagogy. The paper reviews and reflects upon the impact of strategies for creating and supporting communities of practice across the institution along with the ways this model is achieving the breaking down of the barriers to ‘e’ and ‘m’ learning adoption among lecturers. This model helped to move lecturers from non-engagement to legitimate peripheral participation and onto full participation within the institution’s e-learning community, and ultimately enabling social constructivist learning environments for students. This model based on a community of practice framework for e-learning support is potentially transferable to other educational contexts.     

Teaching with Social Media: Disrupting Present Day Public Education

Because social technologies present illuminating educational, ethical, economic, and structural challenges to existing constructions of public education, they catalyze a fundamental examination of what public education should look like and be like in a democracy. Given their performances in other arenas, mobile and electronic technologies have the potential to further critical pedagogical praxis by enabling more democratic and participatory discursive practices. At the same time, they are significant vectors for market infiltration. They intensify surveillance, reproduce existing structures, and constrain conceptions of the possible. To examine what emerges regarding the construction of teacher as a subject when these latest technologies are incorporated, this article reports on findings from a multiple case study of five secondary school teachers using social media in their teaching.     

Charting trends for e-learning in Asian schools

E-Learning is the confluence of many technology-based learning opportunities. It employs technologies as part of the delivery systems, as tools to assist with the representation of ideas, and most recently as the integration of processes and the topics to be learned. This paper reviews some of the approaches adopted by Asian schools and charts the trends that will guide instructional designers as they seek to effectively employ e-learning strategies. It also suggests a more integrated view of e-learning for those managing the learning and training systems within schools.     

Experienced academics’ pedagogical development in higher education: time,technologies, and conversations

This paper focuses on extending our limited understanding of how the teaching and assessment practices of experienced academics develop. The development of academics as teachers is increasingly seen as a key focus but much of the research in this area has focused on formal educational development initiatives. The analysis presented here investigates how experienced academics describe what has shaped their emerging pedagogical practices over time. The emphasis is on participants’ informal experiences. Three foci were identified as the most important for these participants’ developing practice: the choices participants made about using time in pressured contexts; the interplay between digital technologies and participants’ practice; and the conversations which participants had about their teaching and assessment. The implications presented for future research and development work emphasise influencing the institutional policy context and the value of working creatively with the complexities of emerging academic practices.     

Mitigating the urban–rural educational gap in developing countries through mobile technology-supported learning

One form of educational inequality is the disparity that exists between urban and rural settings. Equal distribution of quality education is a challenge for developing countries due to the unavailability of resources. Various approaches to equal distribution are distance learning, telecast learning and e-learning; however, these approaches cannot achieve the desired objectives due to their limitations. This research aimed to investigate the interesting question of whether mobile technology can bring urban and rural settings closer together. A mobile application for learning Urdu grammar was designed to measure the learning gains of fourth-grade students at two different schools from urban and rural settings. A quantitative technique, the quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test method, was used to measure the effectiveness of the mobile application. The comparison of the students’ performances at the urban and rural schools illustrated the role of mobile technology in mitigating the educational gap. The present study provides evidence that children from different social backgrounds may benefit equally from mobile technology.     

技术创新、教育领导力与学习变革——“21世纪学习”国际论坛概述

以计算机和互联网为代表的信息通讯技术已经深刻地改变了人们的生活方式和交流方式,也因此,21世纪给世界各地传统学校和传统教育体制带来的是机遇与挑战并存的发展前景。在这样的背景下,杭州师范大学、美国肯恩大学和浙江大学教育学院联合举办了第11届西博会“21世纪学习”国际论坛,论坛邀请了21位国际教育技术专家和6位国内教育技术专家,共做了26场报告。报告的主题包括五大方面：（1）信息通讯技术（ICT）在中小学校中的应用;（2）虚拟现实技术在课堂上的应用;（3）电子化学习;（4）移动学习;（5）ICT相关的教师培训。所有报告或多或少都涉及到了技术创新、教育领导力以及学习变革等话题。     

从用户到顾问:教学设计人员在当前在线教学中所担当的“新角色”(英文)

本文讨论了教育技术的专业实践如何影响教学设计师的角色。技术前景的动态本质使得教学设计师的工作复杂化,使得他们在应用所学的系统设计模式时有着很大的困难。目前,教学设计师在帮助机构有效采用教育技术方面担当着更加多样的、精细的角色。在假定这些新角色的基础上,教学设计人员应当跨越自身的舒适区,不仅仅是与学科专家合作的设计人员,或者是第一个吃螃蟹使用技术的人,而是真正成为绩效专家,协调机构内的不同力量。     

Computers and School: Indian and French students' discourse

The use of digital technologies by young people and the impact of e-learning have been the subject of a significant number of studies carried out worldwide. However, when it comes to student perceptions about the place and role of these technologies in their lives, research looks towards university students. This article aims to understand what the technologies represent for school students in their personal and school lives. It is based on a study that brings together two contexts, representing opposing cultures and trends: France where the policy on school computers has been in place for more than two decades and India where the government has only recently begun to make efforts to overcome the digital divide. This study conducted in the two countries in 2009 among 960 young people aged between 11 and 18 shows the importance of schools in constructing private spaces to be shared with peers, a role that has long been attributed to home computers. This article thus provides elements of explanation for the relative disenchantment that young people feel for the school-related uses of the technologies. For them, school is not about individualist autonomous learning, but about learning from teachers as a group.     

The role of online communities and the impact of educational social media on Saudi female college students in the United States

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the role of online communities and the impact of educational social media on 14 Saudi female college students who were studying in the United States. The findings revealed that social media was important to the participants for maintaining relationships and seeking out information from others. Social media was also an important way for participants to remain close to their communities and keep in contact with Saudi friends and family; however, the use of social media to interact with their communities was often shaped by Saudi cultural expectations. Most of the participants enjoyed online education and interacting with others in an online educational setting because it promotes collaborative learning and cultural interaction. Overall, social media used for educational purposes was mostly seen by the participants as a positive and beneficial part of their educational experiences.     

Critical analysis of the effects of the digital technologies on reading and learning / Análisis crítico sobre los efectos de las tecnologías digitales en la lectura y el aprendizaje

Abstract

In the digital age, the introduction of digital technologies (or information and communication technologies, ICT) in classrooms is a necessary, imperative reality. However, the educational results do not seem to match the expectations generated. For this reason, this revision seeks to make up for the scant attention paid to the possible harmful effects of the use of ICT based on research and educational practice. After providing a general overview of the impact of ICT on learning, we survey the results of studies that reveal potential negative consequences of their use inside and outside the school context. We analyse their impact on both academic performance and other more specific areas, such as reading comprehension, and we stress the negative effects on so-called ‘digital natives’. In short, what stands out is the importance of an evidence-based education practice which bears in mind the possible harmful effects of using ICT and bears in mind that its beneficial effects seem to rely on not only how much but also how they are used.     

Perceptions of pedagogical formation students about Web 2.0 tools and educational practices

This study aims to examine pedagogical formation students’ perceptions about Web 2.0 tools and educational practices. A case study approach forms the methodological framework of this study. This study was conducted with 42 pedagogical formation students of an Instructional Technology and Material Design course during the 2014–2015 spring semester. During the course, the students created digital materials such as puzzles, concept maps, worksheets, presentations and posters by using software including Prezi, Glogster, and Webspiration. Furthermore they were introduced to numerous Web 2.0 tools which were required learning for the purpose of the course. The data for this study was collected by the researcher through a questionnaire and open-ended questions developed in order to identify students’ views on Web 2.0 tools and educational practices they will face in their future professional life. Content analysis, frequency and percentage were used in the analysis of data. Answers to the following were sought from the data analysis: (1) which Web 2.0 tools do students use or planned to use in their current and future professional life (teaching profession); (2) what are the reasons students want to use Web 2.0 tools in their professional life as a teacher; (3) what are the views of students about their use of Web 2.0 tools in the educational context; and (4) what are students’ views about Web 3.0 technologies and the changes and innovations that will be brought about by these technologies in the field of education.     

The Use of Mobile Learning in Grades K–12: A Literature Review of Current Trends and Practices

ABSTRACT

This article presents a literature review of mobile learning (m-learning) in the K–12 classroom and explores the impact of tablets in primary education. Additionally, it shows the impact of mobile learning on K–12 online learning as well as the need for professional development of educators utilizing mobile technologies. Further, the article reviews challenges with m-learning and provides potential recommendations and guidelines for utilizing mobile technologies in the future of educational curriculum development.     

“You need a phone and camera in your bag before you go out!”: Children’s play with imaginative technologies

Early childhood settings value play as the way young children learn and educators encourage children’s re-enactment of cultural practices in the imaginative play spaces provided. From a cultural-historical perspective, children expect these imaginative play spaces to contain objects from their social contexts, but what happens when technologies are not provided? The aim of this study was to explore children’s imaginative play involving working and imaginative technologies within two kindergartens (the year before formal schooling). Imaginative play spaces are designed to replicate social situations relevant to the cultural context in which they occur and as technologies increase in society, their proliferation is reflected within early childhood settings. Understanding the role that imaginative technologies can play in children’s digital literacy learning is important for the early childhood field. Also, these devices are often absent from literature and overlooked in conversations about children’s digital participation. The findings show how the children engaged with the imaginative technologies and raises questions around the influence of these technologies on children’s imaginative play and their technological understandings. The findings have implications for educators’ understandings of children’s play with technologies and the objects they provide in an era where children’s lives are increasingly immersed in technology.     

数字智商及其能力图谱：国际进展与未来教育框架

新一轮科技革命和产业变革加速演进,人工智能、移动技术、物联网等新技术新应用方兴未艾,技术革新改变了人们的生活、生产方式和思维方式,同时对个体的素质能力提出了新的诉求,进而对未来教育学习框架提出了挑战。文章基于代表各社会阶段人类关注的价值焦点变化,系统梳理人类社会个体"三商"(智商、情商、数字智商)的发展脉络及关系,解析数字智商能力图谱、数字智商能力三级目标与数字智商能力的现实应用,构建适应数字智商发展的未来教育学习框架,以期为新时代数字化教育体系架构、路径规划与教学实施带来些许启示。     

环境未来的四个版本

Options for achieving environmental sustainability include globalization, cooperation, and self-preservation, but experts disagree on the best approach for the coming decades. To tackle this difficulty and explore the planet' s environmental future, the United Nations Environment program (UNEP) developed four scenarios, each with a different priority and