Digital Learning Communities Research Articles

Disconnected Connections of Learning Beyond Formal Schooling Through Human–Computer–Human Interactions

AbstractThis article originated from a working group on “Learning beyond formal schooling through human–computer–human interaction (HCHI)” convened at the UNESCO EDUSummIT 2023 in Kyoto (Japan). A polylogue approach was adopted by engaging eight co-authors whose diverse perspectives culminated in propositions that addressed the pivotal question: How should the connections between formal, non-formal, and informal learning be considered in a digitally mediated world? Formal learning is typically structured, organized and chronologically arranged institutional learning, whereas informal learning is associated with everyday learning across contexts throughout one’s life, and non-formal learning is a hybrid of these forms of learning. Considering the growing prominence of informal and non-formal learning in a digitally mediated world, the evolving learning ecosystem calls for a recalibration of the emphasis on formal learning. In this regard, HCHI has the potential to mediate human–human interactions, thereby bridging formal and informal learning. Our articulated position is to preserve the distinct boundaries and inherent complexities of each type of learning while creating opportunities or ‘bridges’ to authentically draw on the processes of each through meaningful actions. The polylogue yielded three propositions to bridge the connections between formal, non-formal and informal learning spaces in a digitally mediated world: (a) formal education institutions can establish strategic alliances and collaborations with learning organizations beyond the formal educational system, (b) the creation of digital learning communities within formal and non-formal spaces exemplify a paradigm of operation in an unregulated, student-centric cohesive space where the educator is a co-participant, (c) the recognition of the value of informal learning experiences by formal education institutions is critical, with emphasis on the learning process rather than the product.

Scaling up the training of teachers through digitalization: the case of the aeioTU network

The use of digital platforms opens up the possibilities to scale up and strengthen interventions in the field of early childhood development, but also entails challenges regarding engagement, connectivity, or digital literacy. In this paper, we describe and critically assess the use of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) to guide the process of digitalization undergone by aeioTU, a well-established Colombian organization working in the early childhood development ecosystem, to improve and scale up their educational practices. We reflect from the organization’s perspective on two phases of this process: the creation of a digital learning community to share aeioTU’s educational knowledge and experience, and the expansion of this learning community to become a network aimed toward the development of collaborative relationships and the co-creation of knowledge. From a policy viewpoint, three main learnings are obtained from this process: start with the needs from the local communities; use digital tools already available, and embrace technology without compromising the organization’s core values.

Creating Anti‐Oppressive Digital Spaces for Social Justice Language Education

AbstractContemporary moves towards social justice education and digital pedagogies require language educators to examine the ways digital learning platforms reinforce economic, social, and cultural inequities, and to explore how to instead offer anti‐oppressive pedagogies for diverse online communities. In this Teaching Issues essay, I draw from the principles of critical pedagogy to argue that non‐linear, non‐modular and multimodal digital learning platforms created on content‐management systems (CMS) can provide anti‐oppressive pedagogical affordances for 1) dismantling teacher‐student power relations, 2) cultivating a sense of a digital learning community, and 3) promoting intersectionality within language teacher education programs. Next, I present a discussion of the challenges involved in designing an anti‐oppressive, transformative digital learning space, and of several critical questions teacher educators can reflect upon while designing their own virtual environments.

Challenges and Opportunities of Mathematics in Digital Times: Preschool Teachers’ Views

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis. Worldwide, preschool teachers were invited to develop the students’ learning experience in a new digital environment for mathematics. This research investigates preschool teachers’ mathematics practices during remote teaching and the use of digital tools in teaching mathematics after their return to actual classes. Views from sixteen Greek preschool teachers were collected with semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results showed that mathematical activities such as Numbers and Operations, Geometry, and Measurement occurred during distance learning in digital preschool classrooms. They made little reference to activities related to Algebra, while they did not refer to Data Analysis and Probability. They also seemed to prefer mathematical activities based on Connections and Representation processes in their digital classrooms. Preschool teachers reported that parents supported this process by their presence, and digital learning communities supported learning activities by providing guidelines and innovative approaches to them in digital times. However, after returning to face-to-face schooling, preschool teachers seemed to use digital tools to a lesser degree. They also mention that in face-to-face schooling, they prefer to utilize the authentic communication frameworks emphasizing problem-solving activities to enhance all mathematical processes. Implications for preschool teacher professional development are discussed.

The Shift to Online Classes during the Covid-19 pandemic: Benefits, Challenges, and Required Improvements from the Students’ Perspective

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic has radically changed and disrupted education; colleges and universities have closed their campuses, and many have shifted to online courses. In the pre-pandemic era, online classes were associated with several benefits and challenges, and the pandemic might have brought additional benefits and obstacles. This research examined students’ perceptions of online classes during the pandemic. The study looked at four aspects: perceived benefits of online classes; perceived challenges; beliefs and an overall evaluation; and potential improvements. An online questionnaire was administrated to some first- and second-year undergraduate students at a College in China. It combined a set of 23 closed-ended and open-ended questions and 342 valid and complete responses were collected. Perceived benefits included creating a digital learning community, improving students’ digital learning skills, and staying connected during tough times. Challenges comprised adaptability issues due to the sudden shift to online classes, time-management issues, being distracted by social media plus technological obstacles. Regarding beliefs, students believed that a blended model that combines both classroom and online modes is necessary for the post-pandemic era. To enhance the sustainability of online classes in the post-pandemic era, a set of improvements are explored and suggested.

Developing a Digital Learning Community

Norwegian universities cancelled all campus activity as a response to a nationwide increase in Covid-19 cases. Lectures were moved to online platforms. The pandemic regulations forced us to redesign our teaching for a group of adult learners at the vocational lecturer education. Moving away from traditional lectures and discussion seminars, we designed new collaborative ‘work packages’ accompanied with various practical tasks. Our analysis is based on our teaching material, written student feedback and in-depth interviews. A combination of asynchronous teaching, collaborative groups and online meetings with supervisors created a confidence-building learning community and a safe learning environment. The study shows how students mastered the situation during a national lockdown and took responsibility for their own progress in the course. In the discussion, we highlight how an active two-way communication can foster an online learning community that has a positive impact on students’ learning experiences, and how our strategies led to student empowerment.

IDENTIFYING HIGHER EDUCATION FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS REPORTED EXPERIENCES STUDYING DURING THE PANDEMIC

<p>The pandemic situation is having been a challenge for many students. The students starting their higher education at the beginning of 2021 were facing a new kind of educational challenge due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to gain insights into first-month studies during the exceptional times. The focus was on Finnish higher education first-year students’ (n=154) reported studying experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were bachelor’s degree students who started their higher education studies in January 2021 in the middle of the exceptional pandemic situation caused by COVID-19. Studies during their first months have mainly been organised online, and there have been specific restrictions related to study arrangements. The study used an inductive content analysis to find out the positive and negative impacts of studying during exceptional times. The data for this study was drawn from an online questionnaire. The results indicated that students’ own resources and capacity played an important role in terms of positive or negative study experiences: good study motivation, good distance-learning skills, and self-directedness helped to cope with the exceptional situation, while insufficient distance-learning skills or challenges in self-direction caused difficulties and dissatisfaction among other students. Whereas, teachers’ digital pedagogical skills play a significant role, as the results of this study indicated. In addition, to teaching and learning activities, higher education institutions need to reflect on how student services, counselling, and peer support can be provided remotely. The findings of this study suggest that it is important to pay attention to students’ well-being and self-directed learning skills in digital learning communities and environments. In addition, the study it´s part suggests strengthening teachers’ competencies related to digital pedagogical competencies together with workload allocation and study scheduling. Also, there are a need to deepen learning community building and self-directed learning skills as a part of pedagogical support.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0781/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Education Continuation Strategies during COVID-19 in Malaysia

COVID-19 pandemic causes Malaysia to make an early decision of a Movement Control Order (MCO) to control the spread of the virus. The purpose of this study is to look on to the education continuation strategies that implemented by the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MoE) during schools’ closure as a measure to control the spread of COVID-19. This article reviewed the measures and the implemented strategies that taken by the MoE to ensure the delivery of learning to all public schools’ students in the country. The review revealed that, the MoE introduced four strategies to be implemented during COVID-19, which are (1) flexible class schedule and pedagogies, (2) synchronous and asynchronous online class, (3) collaboration with mass media, and (4) digital learning communities for professional development. The implemented strategies enabled the education system to overcome the school’s sudden closing issue and deliver the necessary education to students during the pandemic.

Integrating Educational Technology in East Africa: One Size Does Not Fit All

Globalization and the post-industrial economy, combined with a growing number of the youth, has increased the demand for higher education in Africa. Online learning breaks down temporal and geographic barriers creating a digital learning community that offers an opportunity to expand access and meet skills and training demands. Deployment of technology is a principal consideration in implementing an online learning programme, given its centrality in the teaching and learning process. The integration of technology requires a decision-making matrix that provides a phased review of the suitability of solution as well as locally placed contemplation of relevance and user accessibility. Higher education institutions in low connectivity areas need to be deliberative and innovative in selecting which technology best fits their environment and accommodates their students’ limitations. This paper discusses the decision-making process of integrating technology for an online learning pilot project analysed through Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory applied to educational technological adoption. The approach of the project considered local infrastructure, university ICT capacity, and user Internet accessibility in the selection of online learning solutions. The process provides insights and understanding of the decision matrix, not only on online learning solutions but also in the broader issue of integrating technology into brick and mortar institutions. Acknowledgements. The paper is based on online learning program implementation in East Africa as part of the university partnership between the U.S. and East African universities funded by the U.S. government.

E3Cs: A Research-Based Model for Effective Digital Learning for K-6 Schools

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers in Ontario were thrust into a new teaching situation at the end of the 20192020 school year for which few were prepared. To address the need for guidance in transitioning to distance teaching, we offer the e-3Cs model, a research-based framework with flexible elements essential for promoting optimum distance interactions for K12 learning, more specifically applied to younger learners (K6). Serving as a tool for designing age-appropriate digital instruction while honouring and caring for affective domain needs of students, the model provides the necessary support for teachers in the purposeful design of digital learning communities.

Only Connect - Indigenous Digital Learning

There is now a unique interdisciplinary opportunity to work across the various digital technology development communities, for example ICT4D and m4d, albeit with their conservative conceptions of learning, and the innovative digital learning communities breaking away from institutional e-learning formats, for example the open learning movement, at a time when many indigenous communities in the global South have considerable experience, access, ownership and familiarity with personal and social digital systems and when the decolonising movement provide the impetus and processes to develop new tools and techniques to work together for an accurate and authentic understanding of learning needs and the methods to address them. This is timely and urgent since digital technologies, produced by Anglophone global corporations and promoting the global knowledge economy, threaten fragile cultures and languages and promote the Fourth Industrial Revolution whilst in fact delivering the next wave of epistemicides. This paper sets the case for urgent, collective and coherent action.

Analyzing Mediated-Action with Activity Theory in a Digital Learning Community

Analyzing Mediated-Action with Activity Theory in a Digital Learning Community

Cross-university collegiality: Supporting 21st century cooperation in preservice English Language Arts teachers

As preservice teachers develop ideas about what it means to be and become educators, they benefit from opportunities that allow them to experience cooperative group work with diverse populations. This is especially important because during the induction phase, as they cross over from teacher education students to inservice teachers, they are often expected to engage in collegial work with their coworkers. In this article, the authors describe a cross-university project using a digital platform that afforded two sets of preservice teachers from two different universities to cooperate over the course of four weeks to inform each other’s practice. This cooperative project included peer review sessions focused on lesson plans and synchronous revision conferences as part of a digital learning community. The authors considered the affordances and limitations of using an online platform as a way to foster cooperative practice among preservice teachers. Overall, preservice teachers had a positive perception of this project. In this article, we share the planning and implementation of the project, the ways in which students engaged with both their peers and the digital tools, and the trials and tribulations of the authors as instructors of these two cohorts of preservice teachers. Ultimately, our goal is to highlight the need in teacher education for projects that engage preservice teachers in cooperative practice with both the use of digital tools and authentic conversations with others outside of their own educational communities. DOI:10.2458/azu_itet_v6i1_rybakova

The Flipped Classroom: Primary and Secondary Teachers’ Views on an Educational Movement in Schools in Sweden Today

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study is to contribute to an increased understanding of the flipped classroom movement. A total of 7 teachers working in school years 4–9 and who both actively flipped their classrooms and had been early adopters in this movement were interviewed. Two research questions were posed: “What characterizes flipped classroom instruction according to the teachers?” and “What objectives do the flipped classroom meet according to the teachers?” Regarding the first research question, a characteristic of a flipped classroom was “the flip,” a task to be accomplished outside the classroom before class. In relation to the second research question we found three objectives: Student activity in class; Educational change; Being part of a digital learning community.

Integrative and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Leadership Development.

Integrating diverse conceptions of leadership across different disciplines, perspectives, and epistemologies is imperative if leaders are to operate in a global and networked world. Interdisciplinary and integrative leadership courses and digital learning communities are featured examples.

Investigating the Attributes in Serious Games that Contribute to Learning

Though serious games have been the topic of much discussion within the scientific community, the theoretical underpinnings of this technology remains largely nascent. Although much of the knowledge base of the simulation and digital learning community applies to serious games, the play-based nature of these tools necessitates additional examination. Games have defining component attributes, and variation of these attributes may affect learning resulting from game play. Thus, understanding of the attributes involved in games and how they map to various learning outcomes will improve the community's ability to effectively design and employ these tools. This article describes research designed to address this need through experimental manipulations of the privately developed InnerCell game. This effort is conducted in the context of game attributes and learning outcomes, and recommendations for attribute-outcome pairs are offered based on preliminary findings of this research.