Digital Learning Tools Research Articles

Blended Learning: The Pathway to Higher Education in Post-Pandemic Era

Today, teaching-learning process is no longer focused on students putting pen to paper and memorising facts. Instead, it is centred on using technology enabled tools and platforms to assist traditional pedagogical practices. In this new teaching environment, teaching and learning practices are continually changing to fit the expectations, learning styles and interests of students. Technology has been at the core of the most recent innovations, altering the traditional classroom. This has resulted in the emergence of blended learning, where students and teachers are no longer solely constrained to interact face-to-face; instead, they now have a plenty of tools and technologies readily available at their fingertips. COVID-19 Pandemic has caused many unexpected and profound changes in the Education Sector around the world. Due to the closures of educational institutions, India has also witnessed a large number of students suffering from huge learning gaps. Educational institutions worldwide positively responded to the pandemic by going online. With the current priority of reopening the schools and colleges and bringing the students back to the classrooms in a safe manner, blended learning is seen as a fundamental part of the future of education. Blended learning is a way of learning combining traditional and modern learning models, with the help of digital learning platforms and tools. The power of blended learning methods lies in their ability to improve the learning experience for both the teachers and the students. Blended learning combines the flexibility and accessibility of technology with the in-person interaction and support of a teacher.

Assessing the impact of Covid-19 on teaching and research: A Ghanaian perspective

Abstract The Covid-19 pandemic in diverse ways affected the traditional modes of instruction and learning at all levels of education. Prominent among the innovations necessitated by the pandemic was the increased use of virtual methods of teaching and learning. For many learners and instructors in parts of the world, however, expensive internet data costs, lack of digital learning tools, and similar other challenges meant that the benefits of virtual teaching and learning could not be fully reaped. This article recounts my experiences of the pandemic as a Ghanaian early career researcher. It shares the experiences of law students in my University, obtained through administered questionnaires. The article also analyses how these experiences unearthed deep socio-economic inequalities among learners and lecturers alike, and how these inequalities impacted effective teaching and learning during the pandemic. Although these disparities had long existed, the conditions created by the pandemic only made them more glaring. While analyzing the institutional support received from my University, the article makes a case for the active involvement of all stakeholders in bridging the divide.

DOI: 10.47750/pnr.2022.13.S09.84

As the COVID-19 outbreak spread from early 2020 on, synchronous and asynchronous online learning became the predominant delivery method in the education system. This is the inaugural time that educational programs have indeed been totally given online across the state. So, this research aims to study the Indian student’s perception of synchronous and asynchronous online courses amid COVID-19. This study involved 655 responses from UG students of various Indian educational institutions. In this study, we utilized basic random sampling to gather data, and SPSS was used to analyse the data. To narrow down the enormous dimensionality, the acquired data were subjected to a factor analysis utilizing a principal component analytical method. The results of the study demonstrate that synchronous can be challenging at times and puts more responsibility on the students. Asynchronous learning also gives the learners the chance to independently investigate and explore the subjects that have been given to them. Another reason why asynchronous exercises were perceived as burdensome by students was the large number of handwritten tasks that had to be turned in quickly. The COVID-19 outbreak has indeed been difficult for both students and teachers nationwide. Yet, teachers have supported students' use of digital learning tools. Therefore, asynchronous and synchronous online courses together have produced balanced learning.

The Telegram-channel as a Means of Developing Cognitive Activity Teenagers

The relevance of the study is due to the need to find new ways to develop the cognitive activity of schoolchildren in the context of the digitalization of all spheres of life of a modern person and the active inclusion of digital services and tools in educational activities. The main research methods are theoretical methods aimed at creating theoretical generalizations that allow us to consider the Telegram channel as a means of developing cognitive activity in adolescents; a survey identifying messengers preferred by schoolchildren, digital resources and devices for obtaining information; psychodiagnostic methods aimed at studying the level of development of cognitive activity in schoolchildren in the subject area “history”; analysis of messengers, which involves the identification of functionality; a formative experiment aimed at developing cognitive activity through the presentation of various types of educational content in the Telegram channel; monitoring the cognitive activity of schoolchildren in history lessons; methods of mathematical and statistical data analysis (T-test, Spearman’s test). The analysis of messengers has made it possible to define Telegram as an accessible digital tool for use in educational activities in order to present educational content to schoolchildren. The structure of the Telegram channel is presented: the selected content is subjected to psychological and methodological analysis. Dynamics has been found in the change in the level of cognitive activity of schoolchildren in the subject area “history” (t = 2,763 at r ≤ 0,01) and self-assessment of cognitive interest (t = 3,574 at r ≤ 0,001) after schoolchildren used educational content posted on the Telegram channel. There has been an increase in interest in learning, a decrease in the number of schoolchildren who are passive during the lesson and are often distracted from educational activities, as well as the activity and independence of adolescents in studying the subject. To make a conclusion it should be outlined that the Telegram channel acts as a learning tool that develops the motivation for cognition, acting as a motivating force for the process of cognition and determining the effectiveness of educational activities, evokes positive emotions in the use of digital tools in training, actualizes the development of new information for the purpose of its practical application and appropriation of new knowledge. Keywords: cognitive activity, digital learning tools, mobile learning, BYOD technology, Telegram channel Acknwledgments.

HOW TO EMPOWER ONLINE TEACHING: 12 PRINCIPLES FOR HIGHER AND POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION

The global pandemic COVID-19, which began in 2020, has brought about new challenges to Ukraine’s higher and postgraduate education institutions. Despite the previous experience of providing online education courses, one of the main challenges to these institutions now remains to perform effective online teaching, which requires a proper theoretical and instructional basis. The study aims to outline efficient online teaching principles and best practices of how online teaching can provide effective interaction in the virtual online classroom with the aid of online learning management systems, online educational technologies, and digital learning tools. The article suggests a framework of twelve principles of effective online teaching determined for higher and postgraduate education that is deployed at five levels grouped according to specific online teaching issues (Level 0. Lecturer readiness, Level 1. Course planning, Level 2. Students’ facilitation, Level 3. Course content dissemination, and Level 4. Course feedback). Each identified principle at every level is covered with examples of specific teaching methods and best practices of how it is used to enhance the effectiveness of online teaching in higher and postgraduate education. To perform most effectively in an online education context, every lecturer should use each level from the developed framework and each principle from the level. However, even a partial application of certain principles will increase the efficiency of the online teaching process. The suggested five-level framework of twelve principles will be helpful for lecturers, professors, and other academic staff of universities and institutes of higher and postgraduate education when providing online and distance education.

Characteristics of the Influence of Digital Technologies on the System of Learning a Foreign Language

A foreign language is a subject that involves the creation of an artificial language environment for students, which predetermines the variable inclusion of various digital learning tools in new perspectives for teaching a foreign language. The main purpose of the study is to determine the features of the influence of digital technologies on the system of learning a foreign language. To achieve our goals, we have applied the methodology of functional modelling, which allows us to graphically depict how the process of learning a foreign language can be improved through the use of digital technologies. The world community is gradually but surely moving towards Industry 4.0, which brings new opportunities for various everyday processes. Globalization is massively trying to introduce English into all types of people's activities, but the study of other languages does not stand still and more and more people are striving to learn new types of foreign languages, which is why the chosen research topic is extremely relevant today. Based on the results of the study, a functional model was formed that demonstrates the process of learning foreign languages through the use of modern digital technologies. The study has limitations and is associated with the impossibility of applying the proposed model outside of one country and all languages. Further research needs to expand the capabilities of the functional model and form elements of flexibility in it for use in the study of foreign languages that are very complex in their structure.

Exploring enactments of the big screen and the small screen in a Norwegian early childhood education and care setting

While much has been written about how to implement digital tools for learning and play in early childhood education and care, using a sociomaterial perspective this article seeks to explore what types of activities can be the outcome of appropriating different digital tools, and who or what defines these activities. Employing a sociomaterial perspective traditionally means a move from seeing the world merely as socially constructed to including the material artefacts in the construction of that world. However, herein there is a danger of overemphasizing what things do to humans and forgetting what humans do in the relationship. Through a sociomaterial lens, digital tools, children and adults all equally exist – but do they exist equally? In the case of digital tools in early childhood education and care, it is not merely a case of how digital tools are inscribed that defines what these activities may look like. Rather, it is necessary to account for how these activities are enacted by adults and/or children as free play or as part of a more institutionalized agenda, in addition to the objects themselves. Drawing on actor-network theory and using video ethnographic data from an early childhood education and care facility that has a strong information and communications technology profile, the focus is on how the digital tools, tablets and interactive whiteboards are enacted as different types of activities depending on the actors in the assemblage. Nuancing between different types of digital tools, as well as being sensitive to how both human and non-human actors influence an activity, can be useful for researchers and practitioners alike.

IMPROVING DIGITAL SECURITY AND PRIVACY OF STUDENTS IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION: AN ATTITUDINAL CHANGE FRAMEWORK BASED ON COMPETENCE LEARNING MATRIX

The information revolution is affecting every aspect of society including education resulting in a concept known as digital learning or e-learning. One problem of digital learning environments and tools is the security and privacy of the learners. How to ensure the security and privacy of digital learners remains a major challenge leading to exposure among naive students. The objective of the study was to explore digital security and privacy culture among students and to propose a novel framework to enhance the security and privacy culture of students using a framework based on the competence learning theory. The Design Science Research (DSR) was adopted as a research paradigm with quantitative and qualitative data gathered from the implementation of the framework. 300 students from a college of education were purposively sampled for the study. A WhatsApp message was sent to the student requesting their confidential information under pretexting and impersonation to assess how security and privacy conscious they were. A framework was developed and implemented based on the theory of competence learning. The results showed high levels of vulnerabilities among students at 67.67% before the Implementation of the Framework in Round 1. This vulnerability reduced to 1.67% in after the implementation of the framework in Round 2 and further reduced to 0% in Round 3. The paper concluded that the lack of security and privacy awareness of the students made them Unconsciously Incompetent (UI). Exposure to the vulnerability made them consciously incompetent (CI), whiles further rounds of exposures led them to be consciously competent (CC). further exposure will eventually result in unconsciously competent (UC) as students become resistant and or immune to security and privacy attacks. The implication of this study is that, as more students converge in the digital space, the need to build their immunity and resistance against cyber-attacks is critical to avoid exposure. Learning to be security conscious should be consistent and routine to ensure that students have renewed behavior changes to become resistant and immune to online attacks.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0697/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Digital learning experience of engineering students in the pandemic

During the unprecedented world crisis of COVID-19, traditional offline courses were forced to be delivered online. Most students struggled with this change of delivery approach due to difficulties in accessing online resources, overwhelming and independent work, communication and concentration, isolation and longlines issues in online learning. Therefore, providing a positive digital learning experience for students was an important concern in UK Higher Education. Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are an indispensable part of the teaching community at the University of Warwick to deliver modules and facilitate WMG engineering students’ learning. Owing to the dual identity of student and teaching staff, doctoral researchers have a unique perspective in investigating students' digital learning experiences. As students, doctoral researchers empathise with the affective impact and physical constraints of online learning that hinder the student experience and learning. And as tutors, doctoral researchers recognise the pedagogical strategies that the digital tools enable, such as peer learning or reflection. This paper provides a reflective evaluation of how effective digital tools, and their uses are supporting the constructive alignment of learning while benefiting the student experience, such as Vevox, Padlet, and Microsoft Teams. In sharing a reflexive account of experiences with digital tools for learning and teaching, guidance is provided on how students’ digital learning experiences can be improved.

Parental involvement in supporting students’ digital learning

Within K-12 education, increasing numbers of children are learning via new digital learning tools while at home, raising important questions about the changing nature of parents’ involvement in digital spaces. This article uses the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler parental involvement model to discuss parents’ decisions to become involved in children’s K-12 learning amidst the shift to more digital and online learning, focusing specifically on how the model accounts for the innovative evolution of technology and parental support of students in digital spaces. Specific questions are posed to challenge traditional conceptions of parental role construction, efficacy, and invitations for involvement within the context of students’ digital learning. Discussion covers the importance of involvement practices that value meaningful digital learning opportunities, parental concerns over the shift to digital spaces, parental confidence using technology, and utilizing technology to foster bi-directional communication to address parents’ concerns as they support their children’s digital learning.

Parental role construction leading to parental involvement in culturally distinct communities

The home environment, especially parental involvement in the learning process, plays a substantial role in cultivating beneficial student learning outcomes. As a special issue on parental involvement, the articles herein share new insights on parental role construction and parental involvement within diverse contexts. The central focus spotlights the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (HDS) model of parental involvement and more specifically the psychological construct of parental role construction. Special attention is given to sociodemographic and cultural differences that influence parent involvement in an increasingly diverse school population that offers a collective counter narrative to deficit approaches of parental involvement. The ideas and methods shared within the articles are also situated within other trends in parent involvement practices that include parents’ role in supporting students’ positive development, self-sufficiency in their academic learning and future decision-making, as well as how parents view their role amidst the increasing use of digital tools for at-home learning. Each article within the special issue considers the complexities of the context, alignment to parental role construction and involvement, and new trends and directions for research on parental involvement.

Learning Analytics in the Corporate Sector: What Business Leaders Say?

The widespread adoption of digital tools for learning enables extensive data collection about employee learning activities. This article analyzes how corporations use data to inform and support their learning needs. This article presents a qualitative analysis of what managers and executives overseeing learning and development initiatives in their respective organization's value in learning analytics (LA) at the workplace. The interviews were analyzed through a framework that combined lenses of value-sensitive design and value creation to uncover the values underpinning current applications of LA in the corporate sector. We found that corporations vary in their strategic LA orientations when it comes to organizational learning and development. However, although aspirational narratives of executives are diverse, their activities are not. The implications of the rich qualitative findings suggest that learning sciences can support organizational learning by creating diagnostic tools to identify organizational orientations for LA. Computer scientists can also support decision-making and research on corporate LA by creating tools that can help map organizational aspirations and activities in relation to the various data sources, stemming from different organizational units. We conclude by outlining these recommendations.

The cyclical ethical effects of using artificial intelligence in education.

Our synthetic review of the relevant and related literatures on the ethics and effects of using AI in education reveals five qualitatively distinct and interrelated divides associated with access, representation, algorithms, interpretations, and citizenship. We open our analysis by probing the ethical effects of algorithms and how teams of humans can plan for and mitigate bias when using AI tools and techniques to model and inform instructional decisions and predict learning outcomes. We then analyze the upstream divides that feed into and fuel the algorithmic divide, first investigating access (who does and does not have access to the hardware, software, and connectivity necessary to engage with AI-enhanced digital learning tools and platforms) and then representation (the factors making data either representative of the total population or over-representative of a subpopulation’s preferences, thereby preventing objectivity and biasing understandings and outcomes). After that, we analyze the divides that are downstream of the algorithmic divide associated with interpretation (how learners, educators, and others understand the outputs of algorithms and use them to make decisions) and citizenship (how the other divides accumulate to impact interpretations of data by learners, educators, and others, in turn influencing behaviors and, over time, skills, culture, economic, health, and civic outcomes). At present, lacking ongoing reflection and action by learners, educators, educational leaders, designers, scholars, and policymakers, the five divides collectively create a vicious cycle and perpetuate structural biases in teaching and learning. However, increasing human responsibility and control over these divides can create a virtuous cycle that improves diversity, equity, and inclusion in education. We conclude the article by looking forward and discussing ways to increase educational opportunity and effectiveness for all by mitigating bias through a cycle of progressive improvement.

Improving metacognition through self-explication in a digital self-regulated learning tool

Digital support during self-regulated learning can improve metacognitive knowledge and skills in learners. Previous research has predominantly focused on embedding metacognitive support in domain-specific content. In this study, we examine a detached approach where digital metacognitive support is offered in parallel to ongoing domain-specific training via a digital tool. The primary support mechanism was self-explication, where learners are prompted to make, otherwise implicit, metacognition concrete.In a controlled pre-test/post-test quasi-experiment, we compared domain-specific and domain-general support and assessed the effects, use, and learners' perceptions of the tool. The results showed that self-explication is an effective mechanism to support and improve metacognition during self-regulated learning. Furthermore, the results confirm the effectiveness of offering detached metacognitive support. While only domain-specific metacognitive support was found to be effective, quantitative and qualitative analysis warrant further research into domain-general and detached metacognitive support.The results also indicated that, while students with higher metacognition found a lack of relevance of using the tool, students with lower metacognition are less likely to make (structural) use of the available support. A key challenge for future research is thus to adapt metacognitive support to learner needs, and to provide metacognitive support to those who would benefit from it the most. The paper concludes by formulating implications for future research as well as design of digital metacognitive support.

A Pragmatic Approach to Flipping the Classroom for 170 Medical Students

Employing a flipped classroom is an excellent way to increase student engagement, integrate material, and elevate learning from memorization to application. This case highlights the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a flipped classroom approach for a large group of medical students at a US military medical school. We discuss the specific learning problems and challenges that formed the team and rationale for the design. We then describe the thought process used to develop the flipped classroom application, including format, content and implementation of digital learning tools. Finally, we reflect on findings from implementation of the design in an 8-week Neuroscience module, including improvements in student-faculty interaction, student engagement, learning climate and unexpected benefits.

Virtual reality and augmented reality in radiation oncology education - A review and expert commentary.

The field of radiation oncology is rapidly advancing through technological and biomedical innovation backed by robust research evidence. However, cancer professionals are notoriously time-poor, meaning there is a need for high quality, accessible and tailored oncologic education programs. While traditional teaching methods including lectures and other in-person delivery formats remain important, digital learning (DL) has provided additional teaching options that can be delivered flexibly and on-demand from anywhere in the world.While evidence of this digital migration has been evident for some time now, it has not always been met with the same enthusiasm by the teaching community, in part due to questions about its pedagogical effectiveness. Many of these reservations have been driven by a rudimentary utilisation of the medium and inexperience with digital best-practice. With increasing familiarity and understanding of the medium, increasingly sophisticated and pedagogically-driven learning solutions can be produced.This article will review the application of immersive digital learning tools in radiation oncology education. This includes first and second-generation Virtual Reality (VR) environments and Augmented Reality (AR). It will explore the data behind, and best-practice application of, each of these tools as well as giving practical tips for educators who are looking to implement (or refine) their use of these learning methods. It includes a discussion of how to match the digital learning methods to the content being taught and ends with a horizon scan of where the digital medium may take us in the future. This article is the second in a two-part series, with the companion piece being on Screen-Based Digital Learning Methods in Radiation Oncology.Overall, the digital space is well-placed to cater to the evolving educational needs of oncology learners. Further uptake over the next decade is likely to be driven by the desire for flexible on demand delivery, high-yield products, engaging delivery methods and programs that are tailored to individual learning needs. Educational programs that embrace these principles will have unique opportunities to thrive in this space.

USING DIGITAL LEARNING TOOLS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

In the context of the English language teaching modernization and digitalization, the problem ofusing digital learning tools at English lessons in primary school has been revealed in the article. Besides,the transformation of English teaching policy and implementation of new approaches, forms, methods andteaching aids in young learners’ learning, a great educational role of digital learning tools is outlined in thearticle. A thorough analysis of a number of pedagogical, psychological and methodological literature ismade in order to state the topicality of the presented research and point out its theoretical basis. Specialattention is paid to the didactic value of software tools for creating and designing English digitalcoursebooks. A wide range of advantages of digital coursebooks, such as creativity, technology, mobility,accessibility, convenience, interactivity, communicatively orientation and authenticity, is illustrated in adetailed analysis of student’s project in the research.The pedagogical opportunities of using multimediatools, in particular, video songs on YouTube channel, in the English language teaching is demonstrated bythe author. A big number of video songs are suggested to be used at different stages at English lessonsconsidering various educational goals. The article deals with the positive emotional and motivationalinfluence of such multimedia tools use in teaching English as well as they ensure young learners’communicative activity and encourage them to learn English much more interesting and vigorously. Inaddition, the didactic potential of digital learning tools (software tools, multimedia tools and educationalchannels), which enable teacher and pupil interaction and the formation of all aspects of Englishcommunicative competence in the process of English teaching in primary school, is studied in the presentedresearch.

New approaches to data collection with research participants

This article draws from a larger doctoral study that examines parents' and teachers' perceptions of parental involvement in early childhood learning. The Covid-19 lockdown happened on March 18, 2020, in Cameroon before data collection was completed, therefore presenting an opportunity to investigate home-school relationships during this period. The private nursery school's initiative in organising distance learning during the lockdown was unexpected, considering Cameroon is a lower-middle-income country where most families struggle to afford digital tools for online learning. Thus, I was interested in finding out perceptions of how this was achieved. New approaches for data collection were adopted using WhatsApp messaging and Zoom interviews with parents and teachers; WhatsApp messaging was especially chosen to suit participants' needs in this context. The head teacher was recruited as a teacher-researcher who elicited children's stories through conversation and drawing techniques. There were challenges in renegotiating participants' consent and setting Zoom interviews due to differences in time zones and poor network connectivity. After data collection, retrospective ethical approval was sought to include the additional information in my research. The insights gained from the study can be helpful for researchers concerning emergency response strategies in data collection, steps for gaining further ethical approval and adding knowledge on research methodology about online data collection.

Teaching in radiation oncology: now and 2025—results of a focus group with medical students

PurposeIn Germany, the new Licensing Regulations for Physicians 2025 (Ärztliche Approbationsordnung, ÄApprO) define a binding legal framework on the basis of which medical faculties modernize their curricula. Since 2015, the National Competence Based Learning Objectives Catalogue for Medicine 2.0 (Nationaler Kompetenzbasierter Lernzielkatalog 2.0., NKLM) formulates competencies and learning objectives to be achieved in the course of studies as curriculum orientation for the medical faculties. In addition, about 80% of the areas of a new core curriculum are to be made compulsory. A needs analysis in the target group of students has not yet taken place for the subject of radiation therapy (RT) or radiation oncology (RO). This study therefore surveys the experiences and requirements of students regarding medical education in RT.MethodsQualitative single-center study using a semistructured in-depth focus group with 11 medical students (20–26 years; 6 female, 5 male) was conducted. Brainstorming sessions were conducted in small groups and individually; oral contributions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. Results were compared with the content of the future curriculum and reviewed for congruence with current expert recommendations of the German Society of Radiation Oncology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Radioonkologie, DEGRO).ResultsThe plans to develop a longitudinal and practice-oriented curriculum was positively received by students. Specifically, students wanted to introduce the basics of RT as an early link to practice in preclinical teaching units. The necessary acquisition of communicative skills should also be taught by lecturers in RO. Methodologically, regular digital survey tools for self-monitoring, discussion rooms, and problem-based learning were named. In the perception of students, the subject appears underrepresented in relation to its relevance in the multimodal therapy of oncological diseases.ConclusionResults of the needs analysis for the subject of RT are consistent with ÄApprO, NKLM, and DEGRO. Moreover, they complement them and should be considered in the curriculum development of Masterplan Medical Education 2020 (Masterplan Medizinstudium 2020). The results contribute to high-quality and target-group-oriented medical training in the subject of RT, increased visibility, and thus early bonding of future physicians to RO in Germany.

Hyper-Activity Books and Serious Games: How to Promote Experiential Learning beyond Distance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital tools for learning. Experiential learning, a crucial process in the educational pathway, can also be promoted at a distance. This paper describes HAB, hyper-activity books and serious games (SG) as methodologies to be used for assessment and training that overcome physical distancing due to COVID-19 in learning. We introduce some examples of these methodologies. The experiences and results represent a pool of resources for experiential learning in everyday educational practice and not merely for responding to emergencies caused by pandemics.