This paper addresses the growing importance of digital competence for higher education professors due to the increasing technology integration in this sector. Existing frameworks, such as the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educator (DigCompEdu), present limitations for higher education, particularly regarding the use of online and blended learning approaches, immersive technologies, and artificial intelligence. Such limitations motivated the development and validation of the e-DigCompEdu, an extended framework specifically designed for this context. The validation process employed a Delphi panel with international experts in distance education, initially involving 29 participants. The selection of specialists was based on their publication records across 40 high-impact distance education journals, involving the analysis of 25,980 authors. The experts evaluated the extended version of the DigCompEdu, with 12 new competencies, specifically considering three aspects: title and description, related activities, and proficiency levels. Experts were asked to rate the competence adequacy on a five-point scale and to offer qualitative feedback. Results showed overall improved adequacy scores, from the first to the second round, as well as an increasing positive evaluation of the competences relevancy. Although some competences experienced a slight reduction in mean scores, they showed decreased variance, demonstrating greater expert consensus. Ultimately, all 12 new competences were enhanced by expert contributions (qualitative) and subsequently validated (quantitative). The validated e-DigCompEdu framework effectively addresses the digital competence requirements from professors in the online education setting. It provides a robust resource for guiding professional development and informing institutional policies regarding the digital transformation of higher education practices.

The adoption of digital learning systems is closely related to user engagement and system relevance. This quantitative research aims to explore the factors influencing students' switching intention from traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS) to a gamified LMS platform, using the Push-Pull-Mooring (PPM) framework. A conceptual model was developed to examine how negative experiences with previous systems (push factors), the appeal of a new gamified platform (pull factors), and personal constraints (mooring factors) influence switching behavior. The gamified LMS, named Learning Nova, was designed based on six types of goal orientation, enabling personalization according to students’ motivational profiles. Data were collected through a two-stage process: an initial classification using a modified AGQ-R questionnaire, followed by a large-scale survey involving 1,054 university students from various institutions across Indonesia who interacted with the prototype. The findings confirmed the significant influence of both push and pull effects on switching intention. While mooring factors did not moderate these effects, they had a direct impact on students’ decisions to switch. These insights offer practical implications for educational institutions and system developers seeking to enhance LMS adoption through motivation-aligned, gamified experiences.

This paper presents the design of a personalized learning agent powered by the Agentic RAG technique. The agent can interpret learners’ queries and autonomously decide which tools should be used to generate the most suitable response. When the learner shares an Open Educational Resource (OER) they wish to learn from, the agent first breaks the content into smaller, manageable chunks. These chunks are then indexed sequentially to preserve the natural flow of the text. At the same time, chunks are also converted into vector embeddings that allow semantic retrieval. Depending on the learner’s request, different tools are selected by the agent. For example, when the learner requests learning aids like summaries, quizzes, or flashcards, the agent invokes the corresponding tool. This tool passes the sequentially indexed chunks to a small language model to generate the output. For context-specific queries, another specialized tool that relies on vector indexing and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), is invoked. Visual question answering is handled by a separate tool that leverages multimodal RAG using a multimodal small language model. This agentic setup improves the accuracy and relevance of responses generated by the agent. To test its agentic behaviour, we probed our agent with a diverse set of questions drawn from four different OERs. We thoroughly examined each response and tracked the tools that got invoked autonomously. We also compared the similarity of summaries produced by our agent against those generated by ChatGPT (GPT-4o) using BERT Score as the evaluation metric. Our findings indicate that the agent consistently selected the appropriate tools and the summaries generated by our agent showed close semantic similarity to those produced by GPT-4o, suggesting that the proposed approach can provide performance reasonably close to a state-of-the-art model. The agent being lightweight resides on learner’s local machine and avoid dependence on cloud-based AI ensuring the privacy of learner’s data. It is affordable as it entirely relies on open source frameworks and small models. As the agent provides personalized support to learners by answering their context-based queries and providing on-demand learning aids, it improves their engagement with the educational content. This research shows that designing agentic AI tools using open-source software to address diverse learning needs is technically and economically feasible as well as educationally valuable.

Digital competence is increasingly being recognised as a crucial factor in transforming education in the technological era. Various studies have been conducted to identify and develop digital competence improvement programs for teachers. However, there has been a lack of comprehensive synthesis regarding their impact, particularly for special education teachers. This problem is important to explore, given that special education teachers face unique pedagogical challenges when serving students with disabilities. This systematic review aims to address this gap by exploring the implementation of digital competence programs for teachers in special education settings. In particular, this study analysed the characteristics of related publications, the effectiveness of training programs, the training materials expected by teachers, and the instruments used to assess digital competence. This study followed PRISMA guidelines, and a comprehensive search was conducted of the Scopus, ScienceDirect, and ERIC databases. This review synthesised 17 studies from 127 screened articles published between 2014 and 2024. The Inclusion and exclusion criteria were based on language, document type, publication year, research type, and full-text availability. The results indicated that while the interest in teacher digital competence is growing, research specifically targeting special education contexts remains limited. Most program initiatives adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, focusing on general digital tools rather than assistive or adaptive technologies suited to learners with disabilities. Training materials tend to emphasise technical rather than pedagogical and accessibility-related aspects. These findings indicate that there is a misalignment between the content of teacher training and the realities of inclusive digital classrooms. The results of this study provide valuable insights for developing digital competence development programs tailored to the needs of special education teachers. This research contributes to digital learning practice by providing a framework for designing practical digital training customised to special education contexts. It advances the scope of virtual and digital learning by highlighting the specific needs and conditions required for inclusive digital education to thrive.

The advent of graduate level athletic training education programs, including those with online didactic curriculum, encourages instructors to incorporate higher level thinking strategies into their curricula. “Create” and “synthesize” are high-level verbs in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Pathomechanics, the study of how musculoskeletal structure and function affect movement patterns, provides a prime opportunity to emphasize higher levels of critical thinking. Because degree programs in the health sciences are heavily “hands-on” and applied, creatively using technology in an online environment to develop transferable skills is critical for such health specialties as athletic training or physical therapy. The purpose of this experiential case study is to describe a method whereby graduate athletic training students are assessed in their ability to create and synthesize information pertaining to structural and gait anomalies. Doing so will allow for empirical work to determine the efficacy of this approach on student learning. Specifically, learner-generated videos may be used as an assessment tool, either in a traditional classroom or in an online classroom. Students report higher levels of active learning, engagement, and acquisition of competencies following creation of video content, which also fosters multimedia manipulation skills and development of 21st century communication ability. Approximately a month prior to the end of the term, the instructor provides students with the instructions for the assignment, each student’s individual gait prompt, and the rubric. A collaborating multimedia librarian instructs the students in the use of technology for video creation and editing. The deliverable product is a video ~1 minute in length of a gait demonstration of the assigned gait prompt, complete with annotations and voice-over explanations of how the studied gait anomaly may influence kinematics and kinetics throughout the body. Learner-generated videos increase active learning, competency acquisition, and multimedia communication skills. Another primary advantage of this assessment is the potential for student-student and instructor-student collaboration and its ability to be a formative iterative assignment. Furthermore, mastery of pathomechanical content requires synthesis of information from anatomy, physiology, and orthopedic assessment courses. Learner-generated videos offer numerous advantages to student engagement and learning and require synthesis of information from across an athletic training curriculum, serving as a compact and comprehensive assessment.

This study examines the impact of instructor presence on cognitive load and learning outcomes in video-based learning environments, addressing a significant gap in optimising instructional design for digital education. Utilising eye-tracking technology to measure pupil dilation, a reliable proxy for cognitive load, this research compares three experimental conditions: no instructor presence, physical instructor presence, and avatar-based instructor presence. Thirty-three undergraduate participants engaged with educational videos, and their cognitive load was assessed through pupil dilation while learning gains were evaluated using pre- and post-tests. Findings indicate that physical instructor presence induces the highest extraneous cognitive load due to non-verbal distractions, negatively affecting learning outcomes. Conversely, avatar-based instructor presence effectively balances cognitive demands by reducing extraneous load and fostering germane cognitive processing, enhancing learning outcomes. The absence of an instructor minimises distractions and moderates cognitive load but results in only moderate learning gains, highlighting the importance of instructor presence in video-based learning, particularly for complex materials requiring contextual support and guided instruction. This research underscores the potential of avatars as a scalable and efficient instructional tool, especially in remote and asynchronous learning contexts. By simplifying visual cues and employing purposeful gestures, avatars mitigate extraneous distractions while maintaining instructional presence. These findings suggest that avatars can bridge the gap between the absence of an instructor and the potential overload associated with physical instructors. The study also demonstrates the value of integrating physiological measures like eye tracking into educational research to refine instructional designs further. This approach offers real-time insights into cognitive processing and learner responses, reducing biases inherent in self-reported measures. This work contributes actionable insights into designing scalable, effective educational technologies that optimise cognitive load and improve learning outcomes, paving the way for innovative approaches in modern e-learning.

Technology-enhanced collaborative academic writing (TECAW) in higher education has gained increasing attention due to its potential to enhance students’ academic writing skills through interaction, shared authorship, and structured pedagogical support. Framing collaborative academic writing (CAW) as a pedagogical process, this systematic literature review explores how digital technologies and instructional strategies have been utilised to support students' engagement across the writing phases. A total of 27 peer-reviewed empirical studies, published between 2014 and 2024 and indexed in the Scopus database, were analysed using the PRISMA 2020 framework to ensure methodological rigour and transparency. The findings identified twenty types of technologies applied across the three phases of CAW including prewriting, in-writing, and post-writing. These technologies were categorised into five groups: collaborative study tools, classroom-based technologies, cloud-based word processors and shared documents, network-based social computing, and supporting tools. Frequently utilised platforms, including Google Docs, Moodle, Zoom, and WhatsApp, functioned either as interactive collaborative spaces that foster communication and idea co-construction or as task-supporting tools that facilitate drafting, feedback, and revision activities.In parallel, six core instructional strategies were identified: prewriting activities, scaffolding, peer review and feedback, collaborative revising and editing, reflective tasks, and collaborative note-taking. These strategies were systematically mapped across the writing phases, supporting not only the technical aspects of writing but also promoting collaborative interaction, critical thinking, and reflective learning practices. Importantly, the review highlights that successful TECAW implementation requires the intentional orchestration of technologies and instructional designs to align with the pedagogical goals at each stage of collaborative writing. The review emphasises that the effective integration of technology in CAW must be intentionally aligned with the pedagogical objectives at each stage of writing, ensuring that tools not only enhance task performance but also strengthen students' collaborative engagement and academic writing development. Overall, this study offers valuable insights for educators and researchers seeking to design student-centred, technology-supported writing instruction that reflects evolving digital pedagogies in higher education.

Gamification has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes in computer science education. This study uses Wenger's Value Creation Framework to evaluate and design the gamification elements in the Answers platform, a Professional Learning Network (PLN) developed at TU Delft. Using a mixed-methods approach with 372 participants, this research examines the platform's impact on learning, motivation, and social interaction. Findings indicate that the platform significantly enhances academic engagement and applied value, as students actively use it for knowledge acquisition and problem-solving. However, social connectivity remains limited, as reflected in lower scores for relatedness and potential value. Qualitative insights reveal that students primarily engage with the platform for academic support rather than networking or peer collaboration. This study contributes to e-learning practice by offering design recommendations to integrate collaborative learning elements better and foster social interaction within gamified learning environments. Additionally, it advances theoretical discussions on gamified PLNs by illustrating how Wenger's framework can be operationalized to assess value creation in digital learning networks. The findings highlight the need for a more holistic approach to gamification that extends beyond point-based rewards to include community-driven engagement mechanisms. By addressing these gaps, this research provides actionable insights for educators, platform designers, and policymakers, supporting the development of more effective gamified learning environments that balance motivation, collaboration, and engagement in online education.

The advent of Generative AI (GAI) tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot has significantly impacted higher education. This exploratory study investigates the current perspectives of lecturers in Human Resource Management and Psychology on adapting assessment strategies in response to GAI developments. Through an online questionnaire, qualitative data was collected from 12 academics, revealing a shift towards more authentic and process-oriented assessments. The findings highlight the dual role of GAI: while it poses risks to academic integrity, contrary to the common perception, it also offers opportunities to enhance assessment authenticity and student engagement. Participating educators reported various adaptations, including the integration of GAI into assessment tasks, increased use of group-based projects, and the implementation of time-limited and context-specific assignments. The study emphasises the need for continuous evolution in assessment practices to maintain academic integrity and effectively measure student learning outcomes in the GAI era. Further research should focus on longitudinal studies to track the impact of these changes over time, to identify the merits and any shortcomings of these new assessment approaches.

The rapidly evolving field of digital entrepreneurial education has been significantly shaped by advancements in technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI). While these technologies have opened new possibilities for entrepreneurial learning, much of the existing research is fragmented, focusing on isolated tools or specific interventions. This piecemeal approach complicates efforts to identify overarching trends, theoretical frameworks, and practical applications relevant to educators, policymakers, and researchers. To address these challenges, this study employs a Bibliometric-Systematic Literature Review (B-SLR) methodology, combining quantitative bibliometric analysis with qualitative synthesis to offer a comprehensive and balanced perspective on the field. We reviewed 261 articles published between 2005 and 2024, capturing diverse geographical regions, subject areas, and publication outlets. This approach enabled us to identify prevalent research themes, uncover emerging methodologies, and highlight areas that warrant deeper investigation. Our analysis revealed four main clusters: (1) Technology-Enhanced Entrepreneurship Education, examining how AR, VR, AI, and digital platforms foster engagement and skill-building; (2) Experiential and Project-Based Learning Approaches, highlighting gamification, simulations, and collaborative projects that stimulate practical competencies and adaptability; (3) Entrepreneurial Competencies, Mindset, and Social Dimensions, exploring cultural, generational, and gender-related factors that shape learner readiness and intentions; and (4) Future-Oriented and Transformative Approaches, emphasizing sustainability, global collaborations, and ethical considerations that guide the long-term evolution of entrepreneurial learning. The findings indicate that technological tools alone do not guarantee enhanced entrepreneurial outcomes. Instead, successful digital entrepreneurial education relies on cultural relevance, supportive policies, comprehensive educator training, and inclusive pedagogical designs. The study proposes an integrative framework that synthesizes technological, experiential, socio-cultural, and forward-looking strategies, offering actionable insights for improving educational practices and advancing theoretical understanding in the field. This research highlights critical areas for future exploration, including the development of learner-centred curricula, investments in digital infrastructure, and the promotion of international collaborations. By addressing these gaps, stakeholders can establish adaptable, inclusive, and ethically grounded ecosystems that equip learners with the skills and mindset needed to navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship in an increasingly dynamic global environment.