Chinese students’ intentions to use the Internet-based technology for learning

Educational technology research and development - This large-scale study used the extended technology acceptance model to examine the different factors influencing Chinese university...     

Examining the shaping of teachers’ pedagogical orientation for the use of technology

Teachers’ current uses of technologies still tend to replicate traditional and/ or administrative practices, with research indicating that the pedagogies required for the effective integration of educational technologies are not yet in evidence amongst the majority of teachers. In order to conceptualise what could be considered effective pedagogies for the use of technology, greater understanding of what informs teachers’ particular approaches and how teachers come to change their approaches over time is required. Succinctly, what is needed is a deep understanding of a teacher’s developmental process for their conceptualisation of the relationship between technology and pedagogy. Through an in-depth, two-year case study methodology, three teachers’ journey to use game-based technologies in their classrooms was examined. The results provide valuable insights into the relationship between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices about the use of technologies; trigger points in teachers’ journeys that influence change in their pedagogical orientation for the use of technology; and rich stories of innovation in teaching. This study has implications for teacher professional development and supporting effective technology integration.     

Researching teaching for understanding: the students’ perspective

Abstract

This paper explores high school students’ perspectives of their learning in ascience unit which was taught using a Children's Science approach. Through the use of a questionnaire and interviews, this research examines how the students understood and responded to the changed demands on their learning as a result of the change in teaching style. Although the students appeared to be actively involved, interested and self‐directed in their learning, they were not convinced that this was an appropriate way forthem to approach their learning in future. It appears as though the time and effort associated with accepting more responsibility for learning is not matched by the value received from doing so in schools.     

High school students’ acceptance and use of mobile technology in learning mathematics

The purpose of this research is to investigate factors affecting the acceptance and use of mobile technology in learning mathematics based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model. The study group comprised of 1640 students attending different types of high schools and grade levels. The results of the study revealed both direct and indirect effects of exogenous variables on Behavioral Intention and Use Behavior in mobile technology acceptance of high school students in learning mathematics. It was also found that the theoretical model was confirmed adequately based on the regression coefficients, the significance of the regression coefficients, and the goodness of fit indices obtained from the SEM analysis. The strongest predictors of Behavioral Intention were Hedonic Motivation and Habit, respectively. Exogenous variables of the study together explained 76% of the variance in Behavioral Intention and 13% of the variance in Use Behavior.

     

Risk-aversion: understanding teachers’ resistance to technology integration

Teachers who do not integrate technology are often labelled as ‘resistant’ to change. Yet, considerable uncertainties remain about appropriate uses and actual value of technology in teaching and learning, which can make integration and change seem risky. The purpose of this article is to explore the nature of teachers’ analytical and affective risk perceptions, and how these influence decisions to integrate technology in their teaching practice. These ideas are explored through an in-depth qualitative analysis of teacher interviews focusing on experiences with, and beliefs about, technology and teaching. Results suggest decisions to integrate technology in teaching are influenced by negative affective responses to technology, general risk-aversion in teaching, and the perceived value of technology in teaching. The risk analysis framework and findings presented in this paper can be used to support communication with teachers to minimise perceived risks and, where appropriate, help support future technology use.     

Mixed methods for mixed reality: understanding users’ avatar activities in virtual worlds

This paper examines the use of mixed methods for analyzing users’ avatar-related activities in a virtual world. Server logs recorded keystroke-level activity for 595 participants over a six-month period in Whyville.net, an informal science website. Participants also completed surveys and participated in interviews regarding their experiences. Additionally, the study included online ethnographic observations of Whyville and offline observations of a subset of 88 users in classroom and after-school settings during their participation. A mixed-methods analysis identified a major user emphasis on avatar appearance and customization that was invariant across user typologies. Implications for the use of mixed methods in online environments are discussed with regard to three challenges resolved during the study: (1) appropriate reduction of the vast quantity of data, (2) integrated analysis of online and offline events, and (3) interactions between qualitative and quantitative data.     

Supporting Teachers’ and Children's Mathematical Thinking: a strategy for the effective use of information technology

ABSTRACT

In this paper we consider some of the obstacles which have so far prevented the potential of information technology to support young children's mathematical thinking from being realised. As well as the obvious limitations of resources, we discuss technical issues to do with hardware and software and organisational issues within schools. Perhaps more significantly, we focus on the stresses and demands which are placed upon primary teachers, and examine how current types and levels of access militate against computers being used for mathematical applications. Based on our experiences in the Primary Laptop Project, which has the long‐term aim of studying the effect on children's and teachers’ learning and attitudes when offered high levels of access to personal technology, with particular .emphasis upon mathematical understanding, we go on to suggest strategies for change. As well as considering the potential for supporting children's mathematical thinking, we focus on the professional development needs of teachers and how these may also be addressed through the use of portable technology.     

The student,the private and the professional role: Students’ social media use

Research has shown that students perceive a distinct divide between educational and private use of social media. The present study explores this divide by focusing on master students’ perception of roles when using social media in a higher education context. A qualitative method has been used, mainly comprising of analyses of home exams and interviews, which were conducted with students enrolled in the master’s course “Social media technologies”. Results support previous research stating that students perceived a distinct divide between educational and private use of social media, and furthermore provide a more detailed understanding of this divide. The results from the study also indicate that there is yet another type of use: social media as a tool for career-building purposes, or what is labeled as professional use. Implications of social media for use in higher education are described through the analysis of three roles as performed by the individual: the student role in educational settings, the professional role for career-building, and the private role.     

Understanding students’ learning practices: challenges for design and integration of mobile technology into distance education

This study explores the design requirements for mobile applications for second language learning in online/distance higher education settings. We investigate how students use technology and how they perceive that these technologies-in-practice facilitate their language learning. Structuration Theory is used for the analysis. Results show that design needs to consider that (i) students use their private mobile technologies frequently when conducting self-initiated learning tasks, (ii) students’ mobile technologies-in-practice are important, and course designers should design materials and tools for such use practices, and (iii) students prefer to work on their own due to the limited time they want to devote to their learning. Consequently, in regard to the pervasive nature of mobile technology integration in society and into students’ habitual use, they need various software tools on such devices to support individual learning.     

Learned adaptations: Teachers’ understanding and use of curriculum resources

This study focused on the use of curriculum materials for three teachers who had enacted instructional sequences from the materials on multiple occasions. The study investigated how the teachers drew on the materials, what they understood about the curriculum resources, and how they connected their use of the materials to their observations of student thinking. There were similarities across the teachers, particularly with respect to their goals and how they read and followed recommendations in the teacher resource materials. There were differences in how their task revisions were in response to what they observed about student thinking. The teacher who most intensively observed student thinking made connections between her interpretations of students’ strategies and her use of the curriculum resources, allowing her to design learned adaptations. Learned adaptations required both an understanding of the design rationale and empirically developed knowledge of how that rationale played out in practice. The empirically developed knowledge could not be totally anticipated by the designers, in part because it developed within a particular context by a teacher with particular characteristics. The case of the teacher who developed learned adaptations showed how these complementary forms of knowledge helped her to use the curriculum resources in ways that enhanced students’ opportunities for sense making. Furthermore, her adaptations were intended to facilitate success not only at the task level, but also across instructional sequences as well. This study also shows how professional vision is not limited to informing only in-the-moment instructional decisions, but also to the use of curriculum materials.     

Tools for the classroom? An examination of existing sociometric methods for teacher use

Despite the recent technical and theoretical advances in the investigation of children's social relations, the inherent complexity of these methods may prevent their easy integration into the classroom. A simple and effective tool can be valuable for teachers who wish to investigate students' social realities in the classroom. Therefore, the present study aims to identify an effective sociometric method for educator's use in the classroom. Nine separate sociometric categorisations were created from peer reports of grade one students (N = 748). Methods that have different collection methods (nominations or ratings) show surprisingly low agreement, unlike those with the same collection method. Methods based on peer nominations showed the strongest correlations with students' behavioural traits. Based on these results, we discuss the relevance and usefulness of such methods for use by classroom teachers in identifying students' social realities.     

Making Dutch pupils media conscious: preadolescents’ self‐assessment of possible media risks and the need for media education

Despite clear European and Dutch policies about media education, there is currently no media education curriculum in Dutch schools. A survey among preadolescents (n = 257) in six primary schools in the Netherlands included questions regarding media access, fears, risks, parental mediation of television and the internet, and the need for media education. Findings indicate an overall high saturation of media, but media choice depends on sociodemographic factors. Preadolescents are given rules for using the internet more often than for TV. Boys feel more confident about media use, and few participants report negative experiences or perceive risks while using the internet. Pupils feel a high need for media education, and those who are already thinking critically about media demand lessons more often. Therefore, both technical knowledge about media and critical awareness of the influence of media must be taught.     

Teachers’ perception of mobile edutainment for special needs learners: the Malaysian case

Study of Malaysian adoption of mobile learning (m-learning) is still in the early stages. However, there are numerous researchers in the country exploring the potential and application of m-learning in the Malaysian education system, including special education. A key question is whether teachers are prepared to incorporate mobile technology as part of their teaching tools or do teachers perceive mobile technology only as personal communication gadgets. This paper investigates teachers' perception of m-learning applications in special education classes. Interviews were conducted to collect related information on teachers' perceptions of m-learning in the selected schools. The teachers expressed that there are limited resources to cater to the attention of special needs learners and they believed edutainment technologies such as augmented reality, game-based educational software and animation projects could be the answer. The benefits and challenges of implementing blended learning for special education are also discussed. The paper concludes by summarising the current environment of m-learning in Malaysian special needs education, together with recommendations for future use of the technology.     

Mobile student to mobile worker: the role of universities in the ‘war for talent’

Universities, as part of the neoliberal regime imposed on them, are being co-opted into a ‘war for talent’, in which national economic success is heavily invested. We examine part of this ‘war’ that affects universities directly – the recruitment of ‘the brightest and the best’ internationally mobile students and their subsequent retention by the host country as high-skill workers. After an account of this war for talent and its implications for higher education, we review the literature on study-migration transitions by international students and identify gaps in both data and theorization. We propose a three-part model that uses the notion of ‘flows’ to organize a research agenda in this field and the possible roles of universities in implementing it. We conclude that only by resisting full recruitment into this global talent war can academic researchers continue to maintain the integrity and value of their professional and disciplinary calling.     

Active and passive technology integration: a novel approach for managing technology’s influence on learning experiences in context-aware learning spaces

Technology integration is the process of overcoming different barriers that hinder efficient utilisation of learning technologies. The authors divide technology integration into two components based on technology’s role in the integration process. In active integration, the technology integrates learning resources into a learning space, making it adaptive to the changes in the context. In passive integration, the technology is integrated into a learning space so that it does not disturb the learner and the context. Using this division, the authors investigate technology integration in context-aware learning spaces (CALSs), which emphasise context-sensitiveness and utilise surrounding resources. UFractions is a CALS combining a mobile-based story and fraction rods. The authors analyse active and passive integration in UFractions among 305 middle schools pupils in South Africa, Finland and Mozambique. In the analysis the authors support quantitative questionnaire data with qualitative insights from questionnaires, interviews and observations. The findings indicate that technology integration, particularly active integration, in UFractions is incomplete. The concepts of active and passive integration are necessary in order to manage technology’s influence on learning experiences in CALSs. Active and passive integration can also be helpful in CALS design, deployment and evaluation, and they could be applied in other learning technology scenarios in the future.     

Researching ‘learning lives’ – a new agenda for learning,media and technology

In this article, we revisit the history of our interest in the term, ‘learning lives’ in order to explicate the meaning(s) of the phrase and to set up a series of challenges for research into young people’s learning. We suggest that a learning lives perspective depends on three areas for investigation. First of all is the challenge of how to capture, theorise and describe the travel and trajectories if researchers are truly to ‘follow’ learners through, around and in their learning across everyday life. Secondly, it means refusing what seems to be the most apparent levers of change, namely media and technology. And thirdly, learning lives approaches need to address the pedagogicization of everyday life and the schooled society. Learning lives approaches help us see the changing place of the meaning of education and institutional pedagogies across all the nooks and crannies of everyday life.     

Beyond the white norm: the use of qualitative methods in the study of black youths’ schooling in England

There is at present in England great confusion concerning the schooling of black youths. Much conventional “race‐relations” research is underpinned by models of social pathology that perceives the youths as a “problem.” While carrying out a study of black students, of Afro‐Caribbean and Asian parentage, qualitative research pointed to the need to re‐conceptualise their experience of schooling within a framework that moves beyond liberal assumptions of a de‐racialised, de‐gendered and de‐politicised school system. Placing students at the centre of the research enables us to see how school for black youths is part of a wider alienating response to them that results in their experience of a “different reality” from the white population. In response to this, the students have creatively developed a number of survival strategies. This article explores the implications of the relative autonomy of methodology from wider theoretical and substantive concerns. In this largely autobiographical account the dialectical nature of ethnography is illustrated, with the theoretical#shconceptual analysis grounded in the data gathering process.