Increasing Student Engagement,Self-Efficacy,and Meta-Cognitive Self-Regulation in the High School Geometry Classroom: Do iPads Help?

Teachers are increasingly integrating mobile digital technology into the classroom. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of incorporating iPads in a secondary-level geometry course on academic achievement, student engagement, self-efficacy, and meta-cognitive self-regulation. Students in the iPad-using classroom experienced lower levels of geometry proficiency scores, higher levels of off-task behaviors, and similar levels of self-efficacy and meta-cognitive self-regulation compared to the non-iPad group. However, the results may have been affected by several latent variables that can be controlled for in future research.     

国内外图书馆电子移动设备外借服务工作探析

对17家中国大陆及美国、加拿大、英国、澳大利亚、中国香港地区具有代表性的公共和高校图书馆的电子移动设备外借种类,查询与借还方式,使用、维修与赔偿等情况作介绍、分析与比较,旨在提高我国图书馆电子移动设备外借服务意识与水平。     

新媒体终端iPad在儿童教育中的应用及发展趋势

随着信息化的发展,越来越多的儿童接触到移动数字化产品,新媒体终端iPad在儿童教育中的作用日渐凸显,发挥重要作用。本文结合iPad的基本特点和小学阶段儿童的基本特征,从儿童的生活学习和课堂学习两方面分析了iPad在儿童教育中的具体应用,同时也提出了iPad在教育应用中出现对儿童身体和心灵伤害等问题,最后提出iPad教育应用扩展到各类人群慢慢改革我们的学习。     

Modified team‐based learning strategy to improve human anatomy learning: A pilot study at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla,Colombia

As part of an institutional program sponsored by the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia, we developed an educational research study on two sessions of human anatomy in which we combined team‐based learning (TBL) and the use of iPads. Study data included the TBL, assessments applied during the course, student's grades on mid‐term examinations and students' perceptions of their experiences. Students reported a positive attitude toward the use of the TBL sessions, and the results showed a significant improvement in their learning between the first and second sessions. Significantly positive correlations (P < 0.05) were obtained between (a) the individual students' readiness test performance 1 and mid‐term examination 1, (b) the individual readiness test performances from Session 1 to Session 2, and (c) the group readiness test performances from the first and second sessions. These results point to positive learning experiences for these students. Analyses of the students' reflections on their activities also pointed toward future challenges. Anat Sci Educ 7: 399–405. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.     

Understanding how educational maths apps can enhance learning: A content analysis and qualitative comparative analysis

Educational applications (apps) are ubiquitous within children's learning environments and emerging evidence has demonstrated their efficacy. However, it remains unclear what the active ingredients (ie, mechanisms), or combination of ingredients, of successful maths apps are. The current study developed a new, open-access, three-step framework for assessing the educational value of maths apps, comprised of type of app, mathematical content and app design features. When applied to a selection of available maths apps previously evaluated with children in the first 3 years of school (the final sample included 23 apps), results showed that practice-based apps were the most common app type tested (n = 15). Basic number skills, such as number representation and relationships, were the most common area of mathematics targeted by apps (n = 21). A follow-up qualitative comparative analysis showed observed learning outcomes with maths apps were enhanced when apps combined the following: a scaffolded and personalised learning journey (programmatic levelling) and explanations of why answers were right or wrong (explanatory feedback), as well as praise, such as ‘Great job!’ (motivational feedback). This novel evidence stresses the significance of feedback and levelling design features that teaching practitioners and other stakeholders should consider when deciding which apps to use with young children. Directions for future research are discussed.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Educational apps have been shown to support maths attainment in the first 3 years of school.
• Several existing frameworks have attempted to assess the educational value of some of these maths apps.
• Emerging experimental evidence also demonstrates the benefits of specific app design features, including feedback and levelling.

What this paper adds

• Practice-based maths apps are the most common type of app previously evaluated with young children.
• These evaluated maths apps have mostly focused on basic number skills.
• The combination of explanatory and motivational feedback, with programmatic levelling (either dynamic or static), was a necessary condition for enhancing learning outcomes with maths apps.

Implications for practice and policy

• The inclusion of feedback and levelling in maths apps should be considered by app developers when designing apps, and by educational practitioners and parents when deciding which apps to use with their children.
• Further consideration is also needed for the development of educational apps that include a broad range of maths skills.