Innovative learning techniques and educational technologies

Abstract

This special issue of the Journal Education and Information Technologies dedicates its thematic section on Innovative Learning Techniques and Educational Technologies. Innovative technologies for learning and education are being developed and introduced at a rapid rate. Perhaps the most common of these are Learning Management Systems and E-Learning platforms, also known as Course Management Systems or Virtual Learning Environments. The Web is currently a preferred medium for distance learning and the learning practice in this context is usually referred to as e-learning or technologyenhanced learning. Many systems enable sharing and distributing information between students and educators and allow working collaboratively. Options exists to increase engagement among participants and to enable collaborative learning and information sharing for instance with video and web conference systems, forums, chats, file sharing and social media. Educators and students have access to many often freely available tools and open source systems; however the selection of suitable tools becomes a challenge. At the same time, open source software, education systems and technological innovations offer a variety of tools and options to let educators to improve learning approaches and teaching methods. Programming assignments and tools using open software is one such example. In addition, approaches to make learning more attractive and interactive include project based software platforms and gaming approaches. Tools can help to produce content material and prepare assignments. Platforms such asMoodle have recently become ubiquitous in education, with many institutions using some form of learning technology and learning platform. Educ Inf Technol (2013) 18:271–274 DOI 10.1007/s10639-013-9255-y