Research Article
Benjamin Aidoo, Veli-Matti Vesterinen, Marey Allyson Macdonald, Berglind Gísladóttir, Svava Pétursdóttir
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep377
ABSTRACT
The views of student teachers on using the flipped classroom approach were investigated in three Ghanaian colleges of education during the 2020/2021 academic year. A questionnaire with open-ended questions was used to collect data from 143 student teachers. Responses were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. In addition, a focus group interview was taken to examine some of the issues in more depth The flipped classroom approach allowed the students to feel that they were in control of their own learning by using self-paced and collaborative learning. The approach also deepened their conceptual understanding as well as their learning skills. The student teachers also experienced three interconnected challenges, including inadequate ICT infrastructures, such as poor internet connectivity, lack of skills to use ICT, and increased workload. The flipped classroom approach can positively impact students’ learning, but educators planning to use the approach should consider the adequacy of the ICT infrastructure available.
Keywords: flipped classroom, ICT infrastructure, students, collaborative learning
Review Article
Abdullah S. Alshalawi
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep378
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the current study is to provide a synthesis review of previous social media networks studies and to elaborate on the influence of social media networks on learning performance. The study analyzed 130 articles on social media networks that were published by five major journals in the field of educational technology in the last decade. It summarizes demographic, methodological, and theoretical trends, including educational level, learning domain, country context, research methods, data collection tools, data analysis techniques, and research purpose, followed by a summary of the influence of social media networks on student learning performance and students’ perceptions toward the use of social media networks in learning. The findings show that more than two thirds of the reviewed articles studies were conducted in higher education institutes, college students were the most common participants in these studies, and most of the learning performance focus articles reported a positive influence of social media networks on learning performance. Students recognize and value the learning benefits of social media networks on the majority of the reviewed articles. Patterns in these articles are discussed in order to better understand the research and identify gaps that need to be filled by future studies.
Keywords: social media networks, learning performance, teaching/learning strategies, mobile learning, literature review
Research Article
Brandford Bervell, Irfan Naufal Umar, Mona Masood, Jeya Amantha Kumar, Justice Kofi Armah, Beatrice Asante Somuah
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep379
ABSTRACT
Contemporary distance higher education is hinged on modern technologies to deliver purely online and blended modes of learning mostly through learning management system (LMS). This is to bridge the transactional gap between students and instructors as well as among students themselves. However, the use of technologies such as LMS for dispensing distance tertiary education is at a cross-road of mandatoriness or voluntariness of use. Nonetheless, current literature supports the voluntary use of LMS by instructors in order to foster positive attitudes and personalization among instructors. Based on this, there is the need to unravel the determining facts that promote voluntary usage of LMS among tutors.
This study thus, employs a quantitative approach based on a survey design to purposively collect data from 267 tutors in a blended distance education setting using a questionnaire. Generalized structural component analysis technique was adopted for structural equation modelling. Results from a structural equation modelling revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and social influence, all determine tutors’ voluntariness of use of LMS for blended learning in distance education. Additionally, voluntariness of use predicted actual LMS use behavior among tutors. On the basis of the results, recommendations were made to reflect theory, policy and practice of voluntary integration of LMS by tutors for blended learning in distance education.
Keywords: LMS, voluntariness of use, tutors, blended learning, distance higher education, generalized structural component analysis
Research Article
Yuxiong Zhang
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep380
ABSTRACT
The present study aimed to investigate the ownership and usage of Tablets among Chinese foreign language students. Adopted a quantitative approach, this research was considered a case study with exploratory nature. The data were collected from a self-reported questionnaire between May 31st and June 6th, and 276 valid responses were analyzed utilizing SPSS. Independent samples t-test and Fisher’s exact tests were carried out to perform inferential and descriptive analyses. Findings revealed that augmented ownership of tablets did not result from the implementation of online courses after the outbreak of COVID-19. However, some students demonstrated preferences for paperless learning, whose learning style might have changed during the intensive distance learning process for more than one semester. Still, students’ opinions towards the introduction of tablets into pedagogical practice weren’t overall positive; those who did not have or were not willing to purchase tablet devices were more likely to be unsupportive.
Keywords: tablets, COVID-19, individual learning, foreign language learning, paperless learning
Research Article
Milagros Torrado Cespón, José María Díaz Lage
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep381
ABSTRACT
As a motivational teaching practice, gamification does not always work as expected. This paper supports these findings and adds the factor of online teaching analyzing the results of an experiment carried out in an online higher education context to test the relevance and motivational efficacy of ludic methodologies using learning and knowledge technology. Three groups of students (n=78, n=64, and n=74) participated in gamified experiences in the same subject. These groups were offered different approaches to the experiences, only one of which included a reward. Neither of the gamified experiences was compulsory. The results show how the use of technologies and gamification is not as appealing as it may seem and how other aspects—such as teacher-student relationship and interaction, rewards, and the sense of alienation generated by online teaching—influence student participation. The low rate of participation indicates that teachers must consider not only those students who participate but also those who do not. The main conclusion is that not only the methodology is important, but also the performance and the fact that student-teacher relationship in online education is more demanding, affectively speaking. Thus, those students who were in direct contact with the teacher during the execution of the gamified experience present a higher level of involvement. This is a factor to consider for the motivational needs of online university students where intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and direct interaction play essential roles.
Keywords: gamification, motivation, interaction, higher education, e-learning, alienation
Research Article
Alfiya R. Masalimova, Klavdiya G. Erdyneeva, Anatoly S. Kislyakov, Zhanna M. Sizova, Elena Kalashnikova, Elmira R. Khairullina
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep382
ABSTRACT
One of the objectives of education is to provide diverse pupils with proper educational opportunities. It is anticipated that the night instructors will have this equipment. In this study, validity, and reliability evaluations of the scale to be used to identify digital competence in prospective instructors to support children with functional diversity were conducted. To conduct the research, education faculty students were selected as the target audience. The data gathered were subjected to exploratory factor analysis. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the obtained results. According to the findings of the investigation, thirty components and five contributing variables were found. It has been proposed that future academics do studies on the validity and reliability of the instruments with a number of different populations.
Keywords: pre-service teachers, digital competence, assist students
Research Article
Xiaoman Wang, John Hampton, Albert D. Ritzhaupt, Kara Dawson
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep383
ABSTRACT
As journal editors play an important role in defining and shaping academic discourse, knowing their opinions could likely prove beneficial for both current and future academic journal stakeholders. Within this vein, this study used the Delphi method to help build a profile on the trends and priorities within educational technology, from the unique perspective of the journals’ editors-in-chief. This expert panel—initially built from 117 national and international research journals—concluded with 25 editors-in-chief who finished all three rounds of the survey. Results indicated five emerging themes for trends and priorities: computer-focused, teaching and learning, online and digital education, societal, and research and theory. By exploring these current trends and priorities within educational technology, this study may provide meaningful insights to better understand the field as a whole and may also help scholars in their goal of publishing relevant, high-quality academic scholarship.
Keywords: educational technology research, trends, priorities, research journal editors, Delphi
Research Article
Mailizar Mailizar, Khairul Umam, Elisa Elisa
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep384
ABSTRACT
The global COVID-19 pandemic has created the urgent need for online instruction throughout all levels, including teacher professional development. As we move beyond the survival phase of remote teacher professional development, it is critical to well understand teacher acceptance and continued use of online professional development. Digital literacy and social presence (SP) have been widely studied to understand online teaching and learning process. However, there is a dearth of studies that examine the impact of digital literacy and SP on the acceptance of online teacher professional development (OTPD). This study aimed to examine if digital literacy and SP affected secondary school teachers’ acceptance and continued use of OTPD. A quantitative method was employed with two hundred and thirty-two Indonesian secondary school teachers completed a 48-item questionnaire based on an extended technology acceptance model and teacher digital literacy framework. Data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. The findings showed that digital literacy and SP significantly affected teachers’ acceptance of OTPD. Therefore, this study suggests that the proposed model is valid to explain teachers’ engagement in OTPD. The results have implications for educational leaders, designers, and facilitators who want to promote online professional development.
Keywords: OTPD, digital literacy, SP, acceptance of OTPD
Research Article
Dabae Lee, Yeol Huh, Chun-Yi Lin, Charles Morgan Reigeluth
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep385
ABSTRACT
Personalized learning (PL) has been internationally promoted as a future direction of educational reform efforts. While there is growing evidence of PL enhancing learning outcomes, teachers reported having difficulty envisioning PL in practice. This national survey study investigated how PL is practiced in K-12 learner-centered schools in the U.S. to inform educators of learner-centered teachers’ PL practice and identify gaps between their practice and research. Five essential components were identified: PL plans, competency-based student progress, criterion-referenced assessment, project- or problem-based learning, and multi-year mentoring. Based on the five components, we identified 308 learner-centered schools and received 272 teacher responses from 41 schools. The five components were implemented with different levels of implementation fidelity. We uncovered several areas in need of improvement. Career goals were not often considered when creating PL plans. A misalignment between student progress and assessment practice was found. There was a lack of community involvement during the PBL process. Teachers were not able to build a close relationship with all students. These findings from learner-centered schools revealed that paradigm change demands continuous effort to transform all aspects of the educational system. Suggestions are made for practice and future research.
Keywords: personalized learning, competency-based student progress, project-based learning, problem-based learning, multi-year mentoring
Research Article
Gulmira Tussupbekova, Kathy L. Malone, Janet Helmer, Gulnara Namyssova, Miruyert Abdrakhmanova, Filiz Polat, Zumrad Kataeva
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep386
ABSTRACT
This explanatory sequential mixed-method study explored the effectiveness of blended learning (BL) courses offered to graduate students at an English medium university in Kazakhstan. The study’s purpose was to explore and understand graduate students’ experiences while enrolled in BL courses by learning their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of BL, as well as its potential for enhancing their teacher leadership skills. A survey (n=81) and semi-structured individual interviews (n=17) were used as the main research instruments. This allowed for a detailed and rich data set on the conceptual underpinnings of the BL courses, their effectiveness, and their potential to inform higher education institutions towards implementing BL policies and practices, specifically in the field of education. Through the lens of the Interaction equivalency theorem, we analyzed students’ experiences and their interactions with their teachers and peers, as well as the mode, place, and pace of learning. This investigation revealed that the benefits of learning using BL outweighed its challenges. However, most of the participants preferred the face-to-face part of the BL course over its online teacher-student interaction component due to the opportunity to gain immediate feedback. Most importantly, the BL courses facilitated the enhancement of teacher leadership skills among the students. Finally, the paper provides recommendations for further development and revisions to current BL courses to enhance their learning value.
Keywords: blended learning, higher education, graduate students, educational leadership, interaction equivalency theory, Kazakhstan, teacher leadership
Research Article
Scott A. Courtney, Mary E. S. Miller, Michael J. Gisondo
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep387
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus pandemic impacted all aspects of society, causing countries and local communities to close workplaces, move schools to remote instruction, limit in-person contact, cancel public gatherings, and restrict travel. Attempts to mitigate COVID-19 through remote instruction provided unique opportunities for researchers to examine the resources teachers utilize to drive their practices. We examine the impacts of the pandemic on grades 6-12 mathematics teachers and math interventionists, with particular attention to teachers’ integration of digital resources. Using purposive sampling, we surveyed 50 participants—across urban, suburban, and rural districts—throughout the United States. The descriptive survey focused on six aspects of teachers’ practices with digital resources. Results indicate that challenges encountered and lessons learned included a lack of student engagement and motivation, increased distractions, and varied access to technology. Integration of technology did not positively impact students’ mathematical proficiency across all teachers. Common resources used across planning of lessons, implementation of instruction, and assessment included the Google platform, Desmos, and GeoGebra. Where appropriate, we situate our results within the larger context of recent international research. These findings support teacher practices that constantly attempt to optimize students’ mathematics and social emotional learning, regardless of the environment or situation.
Keywords: digital technology, remote instruction, teachers’ mathematics practices, students’ social emotional learning
Review Article
Chih-Hsuan Wang, Jill D. Salisbury-Glennon, Yan Dai, Sangah Lee, Jianwei Dong
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep388
ABSTRACT
Most college students have grown up using technology and consequently, they are proficient with its many uses and applications. The use of this technology provides many benefits to college students’ learning, both in and out of the classroom. However, despite the numerous benefits of technology, these digital activities can also lead to much digital distraction. Digital distractions may include Internet surfing, watching movies, checking texts, reading, and sending emails, and perusing social media. These digital distractions often result in limited attention and engagement during class, as well as less learning and academic achievement overall. Digital distraction can result from such factors as anxiety and depression, motivational variables, the need to keep up and the fear of missing out, emotional numbing and procrastination as well as an overreliance on multitasking. It is suggested here that the use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies may be effective in assisting college students in avoiding digital distractions, both in and out of the classroom. SRL strategies include forethought, planning, activation; monitoring, control and reflection on the learner’s cognition, motivation/affect, and behavior. Through the use of these SRL strategies, college students may be taught to decrease digital distractions and, thus, experience higher levels of learning and academic performance.
Keywords: digital distraction, self-regulation, college students, academic achievement
Research Article
Melchor Gómez-García, Roberto Soto-Varela, Moussa Boumadan, César Poyatos-Dorado
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep389
ABSTRACT
Transferring a pedagogical proposal from a face-to-face environment to a virtual one is not an automatic conversion. It requires a thorough instructional design and the appropriate methodology. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the variables that influence the selection of an active methodology mediated by information and communication technologies for the design of a didactic sequence developed in a digital environment. We have worked with a sample of teachers who have participated in a training experience in which they have built a didactic proposal for a digital environment, selecting an active methodology from a reflective dynamic based on objective criteria. The study shows that there is a positive association between the year the course was taken, the sex of the participants and the stage where the participants work, and the chosen methodology. Finally, the area of knowledge taught is not a determining factor. It is concluded that regardless of the methodological selection, teachers tend to value the didactic component training over the instrumental one, although it is decisive that the training deals with technology, but from a techno pedagogical perspective.
Keywords: methodology, ICT, didactic sequence, teachers
Research Article
Cristina A. Huertas-Abril, Francisco Javier Palacios-Hidalgo
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep390
ABSTRACT
This study examines the perceptions of pre-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers of their skills to face emergency remote language teaching (ERLT) situations, and to determine whether these vary according to gender, age, university, or course. A cross-sectional survey model was used with 332 pre-service EFL teachers studying in two Spanish universities, an onsite institution, and a distance university. After analyzing the results, it can be said that participants’ ERLT skills are moderate, and they vary significantly according to age, course, and type of university, but no statistically significant differences are found regarding gender. The results can guide teacher trainers and researchers, as they reveal the needs of pre-service EFL teachers to teach effectively in ERLT situations.
Keywords: distance university, English language teaching, teacher education, teacher perceptions
Review Article
Svetlana N. Vachkova, Elena Y. Petryaeva, Marina G. Tsyrenova, Liudmila V. Shukshina, Natalia A. Krasheninnikova, Mikhail G. Leontev
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep391
ABSTRACT
The world we live in today holds some uncertainties. The processes of automation, big data, the digital environment, global crises, and the interconnectedness of international society are changing common technological patterns and the educational system. Among the essential features of competitiveness of teachers in higher education are mobility, digital competencies, adaptability, participation in scientific networks and projects, and continuous acquisition of new technological skills. For this reason, teachers must continuously develop their professional skills to remain competitive and create professionals in higher education. Current conditions are fostering global demand for teachers who produce pedagogical and scientific developments.
This article aims to solve the problem of defining the structure, content, and requirements of scientific and methodological support for higher education teachers’ competitiveness in a digital world in the context of global challenges and risks. Theoretically, the problem is defined by the need for new approaches to explaining the concept of teacher competitiveness and the need to develop a psychological and teaching methodology for training and developing teacher competitiveness. In practice, we conclude that researchers must develop personal, professional, procedural, and technological enhancements to support higher education faculty competitiveness in a digital world.
Keywords: higher education, competitive teacher, digital economics, global risks & challenges, network-based education, social profile, digital transformation, competencies, digital world
Research Article
Jaitip Nasongkhla, Siridej Sujiva
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep392
ABSTRACT
This design research aims to propose a HyFlex strategy for students and participants in the workplace using massive open online course (MOOC) flipped between the two settings, an active in-classroom to an action learning in the workplace. The research methods were designed into two major parts, where the first part was a design stage which included the review and design process, while the second part involved case studies. The learning design is analogous to an origami paper folding system that processes the diversified questioning of real-world problems and recursively reflects the thought, action, and solutions to the problems. The case studies showed a statistically significant increase in participants’ creative problem-solving at the 0.5 level.
Keywords: MOOC, connectivist MOOC, flipped learning, action learning, creative problem-solving
Research Article
Gema Sánchez Medero, Gema Pastor Albaladejo, Pilar Mairal Medina, María José García Solana
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep393
ABSTRACT
A number of university educators decided to implement an experience “pilot”: the co-creation of a blog with students in which they disseminated some topics of the subject “Spanish political system”, taken as part of a joint honors degree in law and political science from the Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology of the Complutense University of Madrid. Four professors and 42 students participated in this experience. In the first phase, the students, under the supervision of the professors, collaboratively developed each of the assigned topics. To do so, the professors explained the dynamics, provided them with a series of resources, trained them in collaborative work techniques, supervised the whole process, and resolved all their doubts. In a second phase, they jointly evaluated one subject to see the possible deviations that had occurred with respect to the initial model, in order to be able to correct them in the rest. In addition, the professors conducted a student survey to measure teamwork and the impact of the blog, the results of which were shared with the participants and at specialized conferences. Thanks, this pilot program has shown that blogging is an important technological tool for the transformation and improvement of teaching and learning processes, and that it encourages the active role of students and promotes their collaborative learning, generating knowledge with and for students.
Keywords: university innovation, blogging, co-creation, collaborative learning
Research Article
Alaa Alahmadi, Mohammad Saleem
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep394
ABSTRACT
FCM is a new approach to lesson delivery in most of the developing world, and neither the (higher education) system, nor the teachers and learners are prepared and well-equipped to handle the demands of the approach. The present study was conducted to document the challenges before teachers implementing FCM in EFL/ESL classrooms. The study was conducted as an end-of-term survey using questionnaires and interview techniques for data collection. The questionnaire was comprised of statements on methods, materials, mode of delivery, and feedback to learners, while the semi-unstructured interviews were meant to gather a narrative account of teachers’ experiences in implementing FCM approach to language teaching. 50 university teachers from Saudi Arabia were surveyed for the study. The obtained results present a picture of difficulties before ESL teachers in implementing FCM. The majority of the participants (mean=49.8) opine that they face one or the other challenge when they use FCM approach in ESL classrooms. Roughly one third (mean=31.6) of the participants expressed that they do not face any challenges in implementing FCM. In the semi-structured interview sessions, the teachers expressed their dissatisfaction with the approach, and said they are generally ill-equipped to deliver lessons and address feedback issues effectively.
Keywords: flipped classroom, teaching challenges, survey study, learner achievement, in-class activities, out-of-class activities