What do they TEL(L)? A systematic analysis of master programs in technology-enhanced learning

This article contributes to the debate on the growing number of interdisciplinary study programs in learning and technology, and aims to understand the diversity of programs as well as curricula structure in an international landscape. Scientific fields share their knowledge and recruit young researchers by offering discipline-specific study programs. Thus, study programs are a reflection of the fields they represent. As technology-enhanced learning is considered to be particularly interdisciplinary and heterogenous, it is important to better understand the landscape of study programs that represents the field. This article presents an analysis of master programs in technology-enhanced learning. A systematic review and analysis of master programs offered in English has been conducted and further used as input for hierarchical cluster analysis. The study identified general characteristics, curricula structure, and organization of topics of these programs. Hierarchical cluster analysis and qualitative content analysis helped us to identify the major types of curricular structures and typical topics covered by the courses. Results show that most study programs rely on interdisciplinary subjects in technology-enhanced learning with a considerable number of subjects from education, learning and psychology. Subjects related to technology, information and computer science appear in such programs less frequently.

COVID-19 A CATALYST FOR TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING (TEL)

Covid-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for mandatory use of technology to deliver class room learning to students who have been forced to Learn From Home (LFH). Learn From Home requires Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) method if students are to be satisfied with online delivery of lessons. Technology Enhanced Learning is used to describe the integration of technology to teaching and learning; the demand for Technology Enhanced Learning has been increased as a result of the lockdown. The study explores various online teaching platforms, techniques, online examination, and Technology Enhanced Learning methods needed to be used by university instructors to ensure that educating the students goes on unhindered. The identified variables were empirically tested with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The study concludes that there is a positive relationship between satisfaction with the delivery of online study and the perceived effectiveness of TEL among higher education students.

Enablers and Barriers of Integrating Game-Based Learning in Professional Development Programmes

This study investigates the enablers and barriers of embedding technology for continuing professional development (CPD) of staff in the police sector. The research team developed an online game called “Child Witness Interview Simulation” (CWIS) to complement existing interview training for police officers and help them gain competency in interviewing children. Within the game design, development, and commercializing phases, the research team came across key themes that define the opportunities and challenges of implementing GBL through a police-based learning approach to CPD. The study identified that the successful implantation of Technology-Enhanced learning (TEL) in CPD falls into two broad categories: organizational, which considers learning outcomes, and individual, which considers learning aims and competency. Therefore, for successful implementation of TEL in CPD, ongoing supportive organizational culture that encourages employees and managers to be committed and motivated to implement TEL in CPD is necessary.

A contribution to the process of designing for learning in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) hold the potential to open up educational opportunities and learning experiences to a global audience by combining recent technological advances with technology-enhanced learning.

Transforming the online learning space through advanced development retreats

Learning technologies have the potential to transform Higher Education, although multifaceted demands on staff time, confidence and training in using new technologies, and a lack of support can make this transformation difficult. The University of Huddersfield recently transitioned to a new virtual learning environment (VLE), which provided the opportunity to change the way staff view and use the new VLE for teaching and learning. As part of this project, three off-site retreats were run to help staff to reflect on and develop their teaching practice to better support student learning in the digital space and develop advanced online resources that support the democratisation of learning, close differential attainment gaps and give every student the best chance of success. Although much is written about different models of practice, there is a lack of theory and conceptualisation around changing practice. Examining the motivations and experiences of staff who participated provides insight into the challenges of implementing change on an institutional level, whilst examining their setup and design highlights ways to support staff during this process. Using participant feedback and experiences to underpin this research, we explore the immediate and ongoing outcomes of these off-site retreats to help transform the University’s approach to technology-enhanced learning.

The Emergence of the “FlexTech” Orchestration of Inferential Reasoning on Pattern Generalization

The purpose of this study is to further our understanding of orchestrating math-talk with digital technology. The technology used is common in Swedish mathematics classrooms and involves personal computers, a projector directed towards a whiteboard at the front of the class and software programs for facilitating communication and collective exploration. We use the construct of instrumental orchestration to conceptualize a teacher’s intentional and systematic organization and use of digital technology to guide math-talk in terms of a collective instrumental genesis. We consider math-talk as a matter of inferential reasoning, taking place in the Game of Giving and Asking for Reasons (GoGAR).The combination of instrumental orchestration and inferential reasoning laid the foundation of a design experiment that addressed the research question: How can collective inferential reasoning be orchestrated in a technology-enhanced learning environment? The design experiment was conducted in lower-secondary school (students 14–16 years old) and consisted of three lessons on pattern generalization. Each lesson was tested and refined twice by the research team. The design experiment resulted in the emergence of the FlexTech orchestration, which provided teachers and students with opportunities to utilize the flexibility to construct, switch and mark in the orchestration of an instrumental math-GoGAR.

Students’ competencies discovery and assessment using learning analytics and semantic web

Traditional content-based assessment systems, which depend on the score as a key criterion for students’ evaluation, have proven to have many drawbacks, especially with the development of learning methods in recent years. Based on these developments, there is a need to adopt new assessment methods to assess the actual skills of students in the digital age. Therefore, the competency-based assessment approach is adopted in this paper to address the subject of students’ competency modelling and discovery in technology-enhanced learning systems. This method of assessment is perfectly suited to modern teaching trends. The authors proposed an approach of assessment semantic analytics to be used for discovering and assessing students’ competencies. This study notes that, all knowledge about students and their competencies has been modelled by semantic representations. Student’s models have been subjected to a set of learning analytics approaches to analyse data generated by students’ activities in order to discover their explicit and latent competencies hidden behind their activities. This experimental study indicates that the competency-based assessment approach is efficient and expected to show significant advantages in evaluating students’ competencies. Implications for practice or policy: Students become able to organise their gains, then integrate and employ them in solving life's problems. Educators get to know more about the extent to which the objectives of their educational process are achieved by evaluating the intellectual, cultural, knowledge, and skilful assets that the learners obtain. Educational policymakers can have a pedagogical and technical vision to move from the culture of content-based evaluations to a competency-based assessment.