Educational Technology Course Research Articles

TPACK design scaffolds for supporting teacher pedagogical change

Many empirical studies show that teachers have difficulty designing technology-integrated lessons for student-centered learning. Supporting teachers to change their pedagogical practice is a challenge faced in teacher professional development for technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). This study describes how teachers’ conceptions of pedagogical change can be supported through the use of different kinds of TPACK design scaffolds—a meaningful learning rubric, lesson design heuristics and TPACK Activity Types. The impact of these design scaffolds on the TPACK confidence and lesson design confidence of 47 teachers and instructors who were attending a graduate course in educational technology were assessed through pre and post course surveys. Expert ratings of technology-integrated lesson plans designed at the beginning and end of the course were also used to determine the extent of pedagogical change enacted. It was found that these design scaffolds had positive effects on teachers’ TPACK confidence and were useful for helping the teachers to articulate pedagogical change in their lesson designs. Participants’ feedback for improving the TPACK design scaffolds as well as guidelines for using these to support pedagogical change through TPACK professional development programmes are discussed.

IMPROVING PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ SELF-EFFICACY ON TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING

The paper reports an action research study that investigated pre-service teachers’ beliefs about service-learning in a Makerspace lab at an elementary school. As part of the service-learning project requirement in an Educational Technology course, the pre-service teachers were asked to work in an elementary school to provide service to the technology teacher and the school students utilizing what they had learned in the university course. The findings of the research indicated that the service-learning experience at the elementary school’s Makerspace lab had positive impact on pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy on technology competency, their beliefs in technology integration in future classroom instructions, and their understanding of the role of technology in education.

Relationships between Pre-service Teachers’ Social Media Usage in Informal Settings and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Social media are increasingly adopted in university administration, teaching, and learning. For pre-service teachers, although there is growing evidence suggesting the effectiveness of educational technology courses in enhancing their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), relatively little is known about whether and how this knowledge is associated with social media usage (SMU) in informal settings. In this study, the relationships between SMU in informal settings and TPACK among pre-service teachers were investigated. Based on the survey data of a sample of 212 pre-service teachers in Hong Kong, media sharing was found to be a significant positive predictor of technology knowledge and knowledge of teaching with technology, whereas Internet searching and video gaming were not predictive of any component of TPACK. The findings of the study were interpreted in the light of the educational affordances of social media technologies, and their implications for researchers and teacher educators were discussed.

Making Space for Preservice Teacher Agency Through Connected Learning in Preservice Educational Technology Courses

Preparing future teachers to integrate technology into their teaching in ways that support transformative student learning is a priority for teacher preparation programs in the United States. However, technology instruction often focuses on functional technology skills, leading to ineffective future technology integration. This study examined two stand-alone educational technology courses that used the connected learning design framework to reimagine a digital storytelling unit as an authentic, production-centered task scenario with opportunities for peer support, social connection, shared expertise, and collaboration. Results suggest that the connected learning activity moved beyond functional skills in ways that opened up a space for preservice teacher agency through student choice, experimentation, and peer support.

Preservice Teachers’ Comfort Levels with Technology in an Online Standalone Educational Technology Course

While some researchers and teacher educators recommend the integration of technology throughout a teacher preparation program, it may not be realistic for all teacher preparation programs to comply with this recommendation. A lack of training, a lack of interest from faculty, limited faculty or facilities, and/or a lack of vision from educational leaders may prevent some teacher preparation programs from successfully integrating technology throughout the curriculum. For various reasons, colleges and schools of education may rely on standalone educational technology courses. The purpose of this study was to examine technology comfort levels of preservice teachers who completed an online standalone educational technology course with pedagogy and content integrated into the course curriculum. Findings reveal there were no statistically significant mean differences between students’ comfort levels using technology for personal communication and to teach academic content. The findings have implications for teacher preparation programs and teacher educators.

Preservice Teachers’ Comfort Levels with Technology in an Online Standalone Educational Technology Course

While some researchers and teacher educators recommend the integration of technology throughout a teacher preparation program, it may not be realistic for all teacher preparation programs to comply with this recommendation. A lack of training, a lack of interest from faculty, limited faculty or facilities, and/or a lack of vision from educational leaders may prevent some teacher preparation programs from successfully integrating technology throughout the curriculum. For various reasons, colleges and schools of education may rely on standalone educational technology courses. The purpose of this study was to examine technology comfort levels of preservice teachers who completed an online standalone educational technology course with pedagogy and content integrated into the course curriculum. Findings reveal there were no statistically significant mean differences between students’ comfort levels using technology for personal communication and to teach academic content. The findings have implications for teacher preparation programs and teacher educators.

Developing Computer-Assisted Instruction Multimedia For Educational Technology Course of Coastal Area Students

This research aims to a) identify instructional software (interactive multimedia CDs) by developing Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) multimedia that is eligible to be used in the instruction of the Educational Technology course; b) analysis the role of instructional software (interactive multimedia CDs) on the Educational Technology course through the development of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) multimedia to improve the quality of education and instructional activities. This is Research and Development (R&D). It employed the descriptive procedural model of development, which outlines the steps to be taken to develop a product, which is instructional multimedia. The number of subjects of the research trial or respondents for each stage was 20 people. To maintain development quality, an expert in materials outside the materials under study, an expert in materials who is also a Educational Technology lecturer, a small groupof 3 students, a medium-sized group of 10 students, and 20 students to participate in the field testing took part in this research. Then, data collection instruments were developed in two stages, namely: a) developing the instruments; and b) trying out instruments. Data on students’ responses were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics with percentage and categorization techniques. Based on data analysis results, it is revealed that the Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) multimedia developed and tried out among students during the preliminary field testing falls into the “Good” category, with the aspects of instruction, materials, and media falling into the “Good” category. Subsequently, results of the main field testing among students also suggest that it falls into the “Good” category, with the aspects of instruction, materials, and media falling into the “Good” category. Similarly, results of the operational field testing among students also suggest that it falls into the “Good” category. Thus, it can be concluded that quality of the Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) multimedia developed in this research falls into the “Good” category viewed from the aspects of instruction, materials, and media. In other words, overall, the quality of this multimedia belongs to the “Good” category.

Special Issue on Project-Based, Senior Design, and Capstone Courses in Engineering Education

Special Issue on Project-Based, Senior Design, and Capstone Courses in Engineering Education

The effectiveness of the industrial field trip in introduction to engineering: A case study at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education, Vietnam

The industrial field trip in the introduction to engineering has been integrated into the engineering education program at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education, Vietnam in 2010. The industrial field trip was organized in the early weeks of the engineering education course. Participating in an industrial field trip is a formal requirement of an engineering education program. After each course, the experience in organizing field trips is reflected and modified continuously to increase the effectiveness in the introduction to engineering for students. A process of organizing the industrial field trips has been developed to increase the effectiveness of education, which includes three main stages: (1) classroom activities to prepare for the field trip, (2) implementation of the field trip, and (3) reflections on the field trip experience. Results showed that the industrial field trips enhance the emotions of students about an engineering education field. This paper is a descriptive research, in which a case study is used to describe the experience of implementing the industrial field trips at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education.

Adaptive Comparative Judgment as a Tool for Assessing Open-ended Design Problems and Model Eliciting Activities

ABSTRACTWe investigated the use of adaptive comparative judgment to evaluate the middle school student learning, engagement, and experience with the design process in an open-ended problem assigned in a technology and engineering education course. Our results indicate that the adaptive comparative judgment tool effectively facilitated the grading of the students’ products and improved the judges’ understanding of the processes the students used to arrive at their solutions. We found the reliability and validity of the tool to be acceptable and the outcomes of our study suggest that there is justification for the use of the adaptive comparative judgment method to assess student learning outcomes at multiple levels of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education.

To tweet or not to tweet: Student perceptions of the use of Twitter on an undergraduate degree course

Microblogging networks can potentially increase reflection, learning, and collaboration among undergraduate students. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the use of Twitter can enhance perceived learning and promote critical thinking, collaborative learning, and active student roles. The participants, 202 undergraduate students, enrolled on three different degree courses, were studying educational technology course modules. A quantitative, transversal, and retrospective methodology with an ex post facto design was applied. The use of Twitter led to an increase in both perceived learning and critical thinking among the majority of students, and in collaborative aspects of the teaching-learning process, as well as in active student roles. Experience of Twitter and its use in an educational context has therefore contributed to enhancing the quality of learning and the teaching-learning process itself.

Special Issue on Project-Based, Senior Design, and Capstone Courses in Engineering Education

Special Issue on Project-Based, Senior Design, and Capstone Courses in Engineering Education

MATH GAME: A LUDIC STRATEGY FOR DIFFERENTIAL AND INTEGRAL CALCULUS TEACHING IN ENGINEERING COURSES

MATH GAME: A LUDIC STRATEGY FOR DIFFERENTIAL AND INTEGRAL CALCULUS TEACHING IN ENGINEERING COURSES

Investigion of religious culture and moral education preservice teachers' self-efficacy perceptions on ınformation and communication technologies<p>Din kültürü ve ahlak bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının bilgi ve iletişim teknolojilerine yönelik öz-yeterlik algı düzeylerinin incelenmesi

The aim of this research is to investigate the religious culture and moral education(RCME) preservice teachers' self-efficacy perception levels on information and communication technologies(ICT). The relational survey method which determined the relationships between two or more variables was used in the research. Participants were consisted of 104 preservice teachers (including 41 females and 63 males) from fourth grade of RCME department of Islamic Sciences/Divinitiy Faculty, Uşak University. Data were collected by using “Personal Information Form” and the “Self-efficacy Scale on Information and Communication Technologies and analyzed by using SPSS program. The findings revealed that RCME preservice teachers' self-efficacy perception levels on ICT were positive and intermediate (middle) level. It was concluded that there wasn’t significant difference between variable of having own computer and self-efficacy perception levels on ICT but there was significant difference between self-efficacy perceptions on ICT and variable of gender, the frequency of computer and internet use, education technology and material design course achievement level, the frequency of ICT –supported teaching material preparation.Extended English abstract is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file.ÖzetBu araştırmanın amacı Din Kültürü ve Ahlak Bilgisi (DİKAB) öğretmen adaylarının Bilgi ve İletişim Teknolojileri (BİT) öz-yeterlik algılarını incelemektir. Araştırmanın modeli, iki ve daha çok sayıda değişkenin aralarındaki ilişkileri belirlemeyi sağlayan ilişkisel tarama modelidir. Çalışma grubunu Uşak Üniversitesi İlahiyat /İslami Bilimler Fakültesi DİKAB bölümü 4.sınıfta öğrenim gören toplam 104 öğretmen adayı oluşturmaktadır. Veriler “Kişisel Bilgi Formu” ve “Bilgi ve İletişim Teknolojileri Yeterlik Ölçeği” ile toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde SPSS programı kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda DİKAB öğretmen adaylarının BİT öz-yeterlik algılarının orta düzeyde olduğu, BİT öz-yeterlik algılarının bilgisayara sahip olma durumuna göre değişmediği buna karşın DİKAB öğretmen adaylarının BİT öz-yeterlik algılarının cinsiyet, bilgisayar ve internet kullanım sıklığı, Öğretim Teknolojileri ve Materyal Tasarımı dersi başarı düzeyi ve BİT destekli öğretim materyali hazırlama deneyimi bakımından anlamlı bir fark oluşturduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Perancangan Arsitektur Aplikasi Learning Management System Di Universitas Slamet Riyadi

E-Learning is one of the solutions in current learning system. Implementation of electronic-based learning, teaching and learning process can be more varied at the same time can eliminate the saturation of learners. Implementation of E-Learning or well known as Learning Management System at Slamet Riyadi University Surakarta, so far not running maximally. Among the most fundamental features available are not in accordance with the standards of application of E-Learning. The solution for this problem is better to design a new system. The development model used is to adopt the Borg and Gall model with the outline of the prototype application. In developing this prototype, data collection needs of users is done to relevant stakeholders, namely Information Technology Education courses, students and lecturers as end users as well as experts in the field of IT and curriculum. The results showed, based on the questionnaire to end users can be concluded that the prototype offered can be accepted among the end users and experts. This is shown from the statistical results of the analysis of the influence between variables that are formulated. Hypothesis of influence between variables most or dominant produce prototype acceptable.

Content Analysis of Curriculum Syllabus for the Educational Technology Discipline Based on Entrepreneurial Competencies

Background: Entrepreneurship education seeks to provide students with knowledge, skills, attitudes, and motivation to encourage entrepreneurial success in a variety of settings. The purpose of the present study was to perform content analysis of curriculum syllabus for the educational technology discipline based on entrepreneurial competencies. Methods: The research population consisted of all 763 academic curriculums of the educational technology discipline at the University of Tehran during years 2016 to 2017, where the census sampling method was used for their selection. To select them, the purposive sampling method in the entrepreneurs section and census sampling method in the educational technology course syllabus section were used. The research tool in this study was a semi-structured interview and a content analysis checklist was used. This study used a summative qualitative content analysis approach. Initially, interviews were carried out with 12 entrepreneurs to extract entrepreneurial competencies. Then, based on their competencies, a content analysis checklist, including 46 entrepreneurial competencies, was designed in a subset of 6 categories, so that the presence of entrepreneurial competencies in the syllabus of the undergraduate educational technology curriculum was analyzed. To determine the validity of the tool, content validity was used and a check list was provided to three educational specialists and was approved and used after correction. The content analysis construct validity was verified by supervisors, consultants, and entrepreneurs and its reliability was calculated as 94% using William Scott’s method. Results: The results showed that the presence of entrepreneurship competency structure among the curriculum syllabus of educational technology at Tehran University did not have a desirable condition. Conclusions: Therefore, it is imperative that higher education professionals and curriculum developers should take the necessary steps to push students towards entrepreneurship in terms of reviewing the curriculum in educational technology at Tehran University.

Learning Technology Integration From a Service-Learning Project: Connecting Preservice Teachers to Real-World Problems

Background: Stand-alone educational technology courses have long faced the challenge of connecting preservice teachers to real-world problems of using technology for teaching and learning. Although many studies investigated the benefits of service-learning in teacher education, few were conducted in stand-alone educational technology courses. Purpose: This article reported the benefits and difficulties of a service-learning project that connected preservice teachers with authentic technology integration problems in K-12 classrooms. Methodology/Approach: Fifty-four undergraduate preservice teachers participated in this descriptive case study. They were guided to reflect on their learning related to technology integration through weekly problems/concerns survey and a final reflection survey. Semistructured interviews captured the salient aspects of preservice teachers’ experiences during the service-learning project. Findings/Conclusions: Preservice teachers valued the authenticity of the service-learning project because they could (a) apply their technology integration knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems and (b) explore resources and ideas relevant to teaching content in their subject areas. Challenges faced by preservice teachers are also discussed. Implications: Service-learning can create an authentic learning experience that connects technology integration with teaching content. Project orientation and feedback for appropriate technology options are the most valuable instructor supports.

Cloud Computing Issues for Higher Education: Theory of Acceptance Model

This study investigates the readiness and basis for adoption of cloud computing for higher education in the United Arab Emirates using the Theory of Acceptance Model [1] and structured equation modeling. After the concept of cloud computing was introduced through an educational technology course, empirical data were derived from an online questionnaire with 239 pre-service teachers and undergraduate students. Hypotheses about users’ acceptance and adoption of cloud computing were tested. The findings revealed that perceived ease of use affected the intention to use the technology in the future, and intention to use was demonstrated in the teachers’ actual use. The study’s outcomes provide educational institutions and cloud service providers a better understanding of cloud computing adoption issues. It also supports the foundation for upcoming research focused at improving our awareness of technology adoption and continued-use factors for innovation in instructional technologies. The implications are discussed in the context of education.

A Course Design for Individualized Learning Leveraging Didactic Functions of Mobile Learning Devices

Mobile computing and wireless technologies are transforming traditional educational patterns. The use of mobile devices for educational purposes led to what is known as <em>mobile learning</em>. In recent years, mobile learning strategies have been increasingly adopted in higher education. They support personalized, informal, situated, contextualized and ubiquitous learning. In practice, we have witnessed that courses in software engineering education often do not lead to the expected learning outcomes. In this paper, we will therefore present a motivating and learner-centered approach for mobile e-learning in application prototyping. We use mobile devices as key enabler serving different didactic functions in the context of learning, prototyping and collaboration.

Gamifying a Course to Teach Games and Simulations for Learning

This design case includes the challenges, considerations, and decisions associated with the design, development, and delivery of a master’s level educational technology course on teaching and learning with games and simulations. A master’s level course, Digital Games and Simulations in the Classroom, faced redesign in order to add a gamification component to be modeled through 3D GameLab and Shivtr. The design decisions made and resulting issues are detailed in this paper. This paper aims to reveal benefits in two key areas: (a) helping a population of primarily non-gamer educational technology graduate students see games and simulations as viable resources for improving learning and (b) modeling gamification as a means to help instructors use gamification as their own instructional strategy