Review Article
Ritesh Chugh, Darren Turnbull
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 15, Issue 2, Article No: ep405
ABSTRACT
Gaming is becoming a popular method of engaging students in learning processes across all levels of the educational community. The effective integration of gaming activities into course curricula has the potential to enhance student learning, motivation, and knowledge acquisition in a range of disciplines. However, gamification of education is not without its opponents, with many educators concerned about the negative impacts of game use on effective learning. This study enhances our understanding of contemporary practices related to the areas, usage and characteristics of gamification in education. It is of particular relevance to educational institutions with a focus on developing innovative teaching methods and curricula that utilize gamification techniques in a multi-disciplinary, cross-national context across all stages of formal learning. Through the use of bibliometric analysis techniques, our study of the citation relations of 3,617 publications identified ten prominent themes dominated by gamification: mobile gaming, physical education, health and medicine, business, learning performance, programming and computing, English language, teacher adoption, primary & secondary education, and mathematics. Clear evidence of increased student motivation to learn and improved course results were evident in the examined literature. This study will benefit serious game designers, educators, and educational institutions to develop more inclusive and engaging pedagogies that exploit the ubiquitous availability of gaming technologies for inclusion in more traditional course delivery methods.
Keywords: learning strategies, information and communication technology, teaching practices, knowledge creation, gamification, bibliometric analysis
Research Article
Frederick Kwaku Sarfo, Francis Amankwah, Stephen Baafi-Frimpong, Joseph Asomani
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 8, Issue 2, pp. 103-118
ABSTRACT
Research findings in the literature show that teachers’ concern about change process is
extremely personal and it influences the implementation of innovation. This study aimed at
assessing information and communication technology teachers’ stages of concern regarding
the implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) curriculum in basic
schools. It also examined the effects of teachers’ personal factors or variablessuch as gender
and teaching experience on their stages of concern towards the implementation of ICT
curriculum. Modified Stages of Concerns Questionnaires (SoCQ) (Hall, George & Rutherford
1979) based on Concern Based Adoption Model (CBAM) were used to collect data from 346
respondents. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics.
The result of the study showed that teachers generally had their first and second high
concerns at informational and consequence stages respectively and with low concern at
awareness stage. Furthermore, statistically significant difference was found between gender
and informational, management, consequence, collaboration and refocusing concerns.
However, according to the results, teachers’ stages of concerns were not related to their
teaching experience.
Keywords: information and communication technology, curriculum implementation, basic education, teacher concerns
Research Article
Alireza Badeleh, G. Sheela
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 213-237
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based approach and the Laboratory Training Model of Teaching (LTM) chemistry. It strived to determine whether the ICT or the LTM would be more effective with respect to the male and female students’ overall as well as component-based achievement in chemistry and their retention of learning. The sample of the study consisted of 120 seventh standard students from two English-medium elementary schools in Mysore city, India. Four homogenous groups were formed randomly for the study and the effects of independent variables were tested under experimental conditions. The Test of Higher Mental Ability in Science (THMAS) was used to determine the homogeneity of the participants. After one month, the delayed posttest for achievement in chemistry was administered to determine the retention level of the students. The statistical techniques used to analyze the data were the independent sample t-test and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings indicated that as far as the overall achievement in chemistry, component-based achievement, and retention of knowledge, comprehension, application, and skills are concerned, the ICT-based method of teaching chemistry was more effective than the LTM of teaching. The effects of gender varied according to comparisons.
Keywords: Information and communication technology, Laboratory training model of teaching, Achievement in chemistry, Retention of learning
Research Article
Nkasiobi S. Oguzor
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 188-199
ABSTRACT
The use of computers has become one of the driving forces in the delivery of instruction of today’s vocational education and training (VET) in Nigeria. Though computers have become increasingly accessible resources for educators to use in their teaching activities, most teachers are still unable to integrate it in their teaching and learning processes. Computers are used to improve teaching quality where quality is very expensive to reproduce, or to substitute for the lack of teachers, or schooling opportunities that cannot be made available with conventional teaching methodologies. This paper examines the challenges of integrating ICT into instructional practices in VET and the barriers confronting implementation. Hence, the need for compatible computer education policies, suggestions to integrate ICT into teaching and learning practices are provided to assist the teachers to the use of computers in order to help the students acquire theoretical knowledge, grounded in real practice. It is the contention of this paper that though creating an ICT environment for teaching and learning in Nigeria may seem difficult, it would enhance students’ achievement in vocational education and training.
Keywords: Instructional resources, Computer Usage, Information and communication technology, Vocational education and training