Educational Technology Design Research Articles

A design rationale to support data use in successful teacher practice: some considerations for educational technology design

Despite the growing ubiquity of educational technologies in K-12 classrooms, many scholars have pointed out that impact of these technologies for all students has been uneven (Gomez et al., 2010). Some attribute this to a lack of cumulativity in educational research, in general. In this paper, we present design rationale as a mechanism to support designers building upon others' designs and assumptions of designs. Reporting on design-based research study to support teachers' data-informed instruction, we highlight our own process connecting our decisions and outcomes to both the conditions on the ground as well as the current research literature.

A design rationale to support data use in successful teacher practice: some considerations for educational technology design

A design rationale to support data use in successful teacher practice: some considerations for educational technology design

The Influence of Age, Gender, and Cognitive Ability on the Susceptibility to Persuasive Strategies

The fact that individuals may react differently toward persuasive strategies gave birth to a shift in persuasive technology (PT) design from the one-size-fits-all traditional approach to the individualized approach which conforms to individuals’ preferences. Given that learners’ gender, age, and cognitive level can affect their response to different learning instructions, it is given primacy of place in persuasive educational technology (PET) design. However, the effect of gender, age, and cognitive ability on learners’ susceptibility to persuasive strategies did not receive the right attention in the extant literature. To close this gap, we carried out an empirical study among 461 participants to investigate whether learners’ gender, age, and cognitive ability significantly affect learners’ susceptibility to three key persuasive strategies (social learning, reward, and trustworthiness) in PETs. The results of a repeated measure analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) revealed that people with high cognitive level are more likely to be susceptible to social learning, while people with low cognitive level are more likely to be susceptible to trustworthiness. Comparatively, our results revealed that males are more likely to be susceptible to social learning, while females are more likely to be susceptible to reward and trustworthiness. Furthermore, our results revealed that younger adults are more likely to be susceptible to social learning and reward, while older adults are more likely to be susceptible to trustworthiness. Our findings reveal potential persuasive strategies which designers can employ to personalize PTs to individual users in higher learning based on their susceptibility profile determined by age, gender, and cognitive level.

Hop.Skip.Jump.Games: The effect of “principled” exergameplay on children's locomotor skill acquisition

AbstractSedentary past‐times such as video gameplay are cited as having a negative effect on children's Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) acquisition. Conversely, “exergames” utilise 3D sensor control systems (eg, Kinect®) to offer full body interactive user experiences in which FMS outputs are often part of the game “play” experience. This study evaluated the impact that participation in (1) commercial exergames and, (2) purpose‐built exergames had on user locomotor skill outcomes (run, hop, skip, jump and slide) when both sets of games were deployed with a “principled” human‐in‐the‐loop personalisation process. Typically developing children aged between 5 and 6 years were divided into two groups; a control group (n = 20; 45% girls) exposed to commercial exergames and, an experimental group (n = 20; 50% girls) exposed to purpose‐built exergames. Gameplay was delivered daily, in the classroom, over a period of 8 weeks. The Test of Gross Motor Development‐2 was utilised to assess children's locomotor skills at three time points (pre, interim and posttest). A mixed analysis of variance with repeated measures on time was conducted to evaluate results of the experimental group in comparison to the control group. A significant interaction effect was observed relating to Time × Group. Pairwise comparisons with a Bonferroni adjustment demonstrated that the experimental group made significant improvements for each locomotor skill (run, hop, skip, jump and slide) from pretest to posttest while the control group made significant improvements in only one locomotor skill (the slide) over the same timeframe. Results indicate that principled design and deployment of purpose‐built exergames support high quality locomotor outputs and, improved outcomes over time. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic A majority of modern children do not possess proficient locomotor skills and cannot hop, skip or even run properly Teachers typically target motor skills in the Physical Education setting but these skills require regular personalised practice to improve performance 3D sensor controlled exergames provide a potential platform to target locomotor skill acquisition in the classroom, but currently lack the necessary design principles to improve user locomotor skill outcomes What this paper adds A suite of “principled” exergames with adaptable features to target locomotor skills in the classroom A human‐in‐the‐loop deployment process that empowers the teacher to be a crucial component of the learning experience Empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of purpose‐built exergames for locomotor skill acquisition purposes in the classroom Implications for practice and/or policy Educators can work with a gaming system to effectively deploy “short bouts” of 3D sensor exergameplay in the classroom and facilitate significantly improved locomotor skills in children. Design and development of educational technology could consider the teacher as a valuable “human intelligent system” capable of making decisions about the user and user experience that the system cannot. This could potentially transform effectiveness of educational technologies from both the teacher and learner perspective.

ДОЦІЛЬНІСТЬ ВВЕДЕННЯ ДИСЦИПЛІНИ “ОСВІТНІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ ТА НАВЧАННЯ В ЦИФРОВУ ЕПОХУ” У ПРОЦЕС НАВЧАННЯ МАЙБУТНІХ ФАХІВЦІВ З ІНФОРМАЦІЙНИХ ТЕХНОЛОГІЙ

The article analyzes international experience of the diverse set of aspects of education technologies and digitalized education study at the higher education establishments. Carnegie Mellon University offers “Master of Educational Technology and Applied Learning Science” program for graduated bachelors. “Design educational games” is one of the examples of the courses offered. Stanford graduate School of Education offers “Education, design and technologies” course. Stanford University offers “Creating effective online and blended courses”. University of Maryland provides set of courses, such as “Instructional Design: Digital Media, New Tools and Technology”. Pennsylvania University offers “Introduction to Online and Blended Teaching”. Massachusetts Institute of Technologies offers “Design and Development of Educational Technology”. The analysis of international experience led to the conclusion, that “Education technologies and learning in the digital age” course is reasonable to introduce into educational plan of the technical specialties’ students and future professionals of information technologies in particular. The reasons to introduce the course for the future professionals of information technologies are the possibility to design and implement course and diploma works in the educational area (educational software development, educational games development, etc.), work at the educational software development companies, conduct PhD research in the area of educational technologies. The course prepares students to the future life-long learning using educational technologies. “Education technologies and learning in the digital age” course is oriented to the 121 “Software engineering”, 122 “Computer science”, 123 “Computer engineering, ”125 “Cybersecurity”, 126 “Information systems and technologies” and is based on the learning the main terms and principles of the education technologies and digital age education approaches. The approximate list of topics to learn in the course is provided. The advantages of the introducing the course are discussed. Keywords: education technologies, EduTech, digital age, education, digitalization of education, higher education establishments.

The position of Distance Education in a journal network

ABSTRACTOn the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the journal Distance Education (DE), this study explores the position of this journal in a network of open and distance education, educational technology and learning design publications. A citation network analysis was undertaken to explore the scholarly communication network of distance education, using articles published in DE from 1980 onwards (n = 656), alongside references cited in those articles (n = 16,729), as well as articles (n = 6003) and associated references (n = 164,444) published in 22 leading journals indexed in the Web of Science between 2014 and 2019. A distinction is made between a narrower (intra-DE) and a wider (inter-journal) distance education network. The study reveals DE’s relationship to the wider educational technology community over time and identifies the most prolific journals and authors in this network.

First-hand, immersive full-body experiences with living cells through interactive museum exhibits.

A museum exhibit that enables direct full-body interactions with living microbes immerses human visitors into the microscopic world and could inform the design of future educational life-science technologies.

ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКАЯ ТЕХНОЛОГИЯ КОНСТРУИРОВАНИЯ УЧЕБНОГО ПРОЦЕССА


 
 
 The article is devoted to the educational technology design of the educational process. According to the author, the technology of designing the pedagogical process cannot be reduced only to thinking of the teacher’s actions, maintenance and use of pedagogical tools, but should be carried out with a focus on students, a group of schoolchildren and each individual.
 
 

Modes of Teacher Participation in the Digitalization of School

Previous research has emphasized the importance and potential of actively involving teachers in the design and implementation of educational technologies in schools. However, only a few studies have explored the development of methodologies for engaging teachers in the appropriation of digital technologies, as the increased digitalization of many education sectors demands. Drawing on experiences from two large-scale participatory research projects, this paper investigates two approaches to involving teachers in the design and implementation of digital learning platforms. Specifically, the paper draws on case examples to examine how participatory data design and future workshops can help to cultivate communities of practice in support of teachers’ appropriation of digital technologies.

The conceptualisation of cognitive tools in learning and technology: A review

The term cognitive tool has been used in many areas of academic specialisation, where it has taken on multiple connotations. In this historical and systematic review, we investigate the conceptualisation of cognitive tools in the learning sciences and educational technology. First, the theory of cognitive tools vis-à-vis learning and development is traced from Vygotsky and Soviet psychology through to its use in current educational technology and learning design. Second, we present a systematic review of cognitive tools in peer-reviewed research literature. We found the term cognitive tool was often used vaguely or with extreme generality. When used more specifically, it referred to communication methods such as visualisations, metaphors, symbols, and hypermedia; or interactive interfaces and environments such as templates, databases, simulations, games, and collaborative media. We offer a definition of software-based cognitive tools founded on the attributes of representation, interactivity, and distributed cognition, which commonly feature in the work of influential theorists; and we explain implications of the definition for designing, evaluating, and researching learning technologies.

Educational Design Research for the Development of a Collectible Card Game for Cybersecurity Learning

The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion of formative design in the context of the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of a collectible card game (CCG) for teaching cybersecurity to middle school students. The approach involved a formative design approach, educational design research (EDR) that evolved from design-based research and design experiments commonly employed in fields such as the learning sciences, educational technology, and instructional design. The authors assert that the EDR process used to design an educational CCG is an effective approach for formative learning game design work.

Toward the Future of Educational Technology and Instructional Design Research in Japan

Toward the Future of Educational Technology and Instructional Design Research in Japan

Toward classroom experiences inclusive of students with disabilities

More than ever, digital content and tools are being introduced and accepted in diverse educational contexts, offering opportunities for innovation and for making learning processes more encompassing, engaging, and collaborative. Multimodal tools fostering tactile, auditory, and spatial learning promise increased access for students with vision impairments (VI). Yet many existing popular classroom technologies, such as Scratch for learning computer programming, rely heavily on visual content and interactions. In practice, this means that students with VI continue to rely on screen readers, magnifiers, and braille displays to access and engage with educational materials, while also leveraging frequent support from a teaching assistant or the use of specialized tools. Although these are all important mechanisms to make educational content more accessible, they are inherently designed to be used by VI learners alone, often leaving the person isolated and excluded from learning activities with other students; meaning that accessible and assistive technology (AT) cannot alone foster connection among students with various abilities [1].In this article, we outline three areas of research and debate that we identified during the CHI 2018 workshop on the design of inclusive educational classroom technology for people with VI [2].

Collaborative Virtual Environment to Facilitate Game Design Evaluation with Children with ASC

ABSTRACTInvolvement of children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) in the design of new educational technology is becoming more prevalent. Despite potential barriers due to communication and ideation difficulties for children with ASC, adapted participatory design methods can successfully facilitate their direct involvement. Nonetheless, methods requiring face-to-face communication can still be difficult for children with ASC and research suggests that technology mediation could facilitate their contribution. This study explores the use of collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) as a medium through which students evaluated existing computer games and offered suggestions for game development. CVEs in which the users were represented by (a) avatars and (b) video-pods were compared to a face-to-face condition. Twelve typically developing (aged 8–9 years), 12 higher ability ASC (12–14) and 4 lower ability ASC children (12–14) participated. All student groups preferred the video-pod CVE and students with ASC were generally better able to contribute effectively through this medium than face-to-face.

Everyone Designs: Learner Autonomy through Creative, Reflective, and Iterative Practice Mindsets

Developing learner autonomy—or the ability to take charge of one’s learning—is a crucial element of teaching and learning and of design work. In this article, we argue that developing learner autonomy in students requires instructors to adopt a two-fold approach through a mindset rooted in creativity and reflective practice. We discuss the theoretical grounding for this mindset, and then situate our discussion by examining an award-winning hybrid-blended course about design thinking in an educational psychology and educational technology doctoral program. The course outcomes qualitatively demonstrated the ways in which students developed a perception of learner autonomy through their work in creating and implementing context-specific educational technology design solutions. We present and discuss evidence from our own formative reflective practice as instructors, along with evidence from students’ reflections, on how themes of learner autonomy emerged via our proposed pedagogical mindset.

Shared Resources: Engineering Students' Emerging Group Understanding of Thermodynamic Work

Background We have developed several interactive virtual laboratories (IVLs) based on a sequence of agent-based molecular simulations designed to target specific threshold concepts to help students learn thermodynamics. We previously analyzed learning in the IVLs from a cognitive perspective, seeking to repair students' misconceptions; however, that perspective provided limited information for iteratively improving the IVLs. Purpose In this study, we shift to a sociocultural perspective to identify student learning resources activated during their engagement in the Thermodynamic Work IVL. We seek to identify the productive social and environmental triggers through which students develop conceptual ideas using technology in a social setting. Method We conducted emergent lexical coding on a cohort of 187 students' textual responses as they completed the IVL in a studio setting. We then analyzed the discursive and technology interactions of four students from different groups using video recordings. Results Coding results show distributions of students' activated resources. Almost all of the students demonstrated productive ideas, and almost all also revealed opportunities to learn more. Through the detailed studies, we illustrate the moment-by-moment interactions of students with one another and with technology to describe how they activate and share resources. These interactions are conceptualized and illustrated through the construct of shared resources. We relate shared resources to processes of knowledge co-construction and knowledge transfer, and discuss implications for instructional practice and educational technology design. Conclusions The resources framework helps us recognize productive ideas in students' evolving understanding of thermodynamic work. Shared resources allows for elaboration of the interwoven cognitive and social aspects of learning.

A Study on the Strategies of Preschool Students' Ability to Improve the Application Ability of Modern Educational Technology

For the students of pre-school education, the application ability of modern educational technology is one of the essential qualities, and it is also one of the main qualities of professional development of future kindergarten teachers. We propose to strengthen the students' modern education technology awareness and emotion, strengthen the modern educational technology and teaching design, multimedia computer application and courseware production curriculum, define the modern educational technology learning objectives and task level to establish multiple evaluation and assessment system Measures to strengthen the students' modern education technology to master and apply. Modern education technology is mainly based on modern education theory, the use of information technology means, teaching and learning resources and process analysis and research, to take a systematic approach to teaching, to achieve the desired effect of education. With the continuous development of the era of knowledge economy, computer network technology has been rapid development, in the cause of education has been widely used. In the actual teaching process, the teacher of modern education technology to master the degree and ability to use, will have a direct impact on the teaching effect. And teachers want to master and use the appropriate modern education technology, we must strengthen the study of modern educational technology. This article mainly analyzes the necessity of the students to master the modern educational technology, expounds the present situation of the students' modern educational technology, and puts forward the effective enhancement measures according to the actual situation.

Japan’s Galapagos Syndrome and Educational Technology Development and Design

Japan’s Galapagos Syndrome and Educational Technology Development and Design

The NISPI framework: Analysing collaborative problem-solving from students' physical interactions

Collaborative problem-solving (CPS) is a fundamental skill for success in modern societies, and part of many common constructivist teaching approaches. However, its effective implementation and evaluation in both digital and physical learning environments are challenging for educators. This paper presents an original method for identifying differences in students' CPS behaviours when they are taking part in face-to-face practice-based learning (PBL). The dataset is based on high school and university students' hand position and head direction data, which can be automated deploying existing multimodal learning analytics systems. The framework uses Nonverbal Indexes of Students' Physical Interactivity (NISPI) to interpret the key parameters of students' CPS competence. The results show that the NISPI framework can be used to judge students' CPS competence levels accurately based on their non-verbal behaviour data. The findings have significant implications for design, research and development of educational technology.

There is more variation within than across domains: an interview with Paul A. Kirschner about applying cognitive psychology-based instructional design principles in mathematics teaching and learning

In this interview we asked Paul A. Kirschner about his comments and reflections regarding the idea to apply cognitive psychology-based instructional design principles to mathematics education and some related issues. With a main focus on cognitive psychology, educational psychology, educational technology and instructional design, this internationally well-known scholar reflects on the work conducted within the mathematics education community. This paper presents a summary of the comments and reflections that he expressed during the interview. A first main theme relates to the general idea behind the special issue, i.e. the feasibility of applying cognitive theory-based instructional design principles in the field of mathematics education. Second, the interview related to the set of instructional design principles that were included in the special issue and those that were omitted. Third, reflections are made on the differences between the application of instructional design principles in mathematics education research and in instructional design research more generally. One main idea running through this interview is that, according to Kirschner, mathematics education research is not necessarily a special field in its own, as the variation of instructional goals and of research foci within mathematics education is at least as large as the variation across different content domains.