Field Of Technology-enhanced Learning Research Articles

The use of Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) in teachers’ training: a scoping review

Taking care of teachers’ competencies is essential to determine a satisfactory level of quality in teaching, with a crucial impact on the proper functioning of educational services. In order to be effective, this training must consider the most recent developments in the field of technology-enhanced learning, such as Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL). Although research in the educational field has shown that DGBL enhances learning processes, promoting learning by doing and cooperative learning as well, with all their positive effects, there is still a paucity of studies on the subject; hence, the intrinsic reason for the present investigation. This review aims to fill this gap, analyzing studies that explore DGBL for teacher training and/or teacher attitude toward using DGBL in their professional activity. We searched the following bibliographic databases: Scopus, ERIC, and Web of Science. After an accurate screening, 20 papers have been selected and included. Main results returned a clear framework of what the current literature presents as effective DGBL training for teachers and pre-service teachers and of facilitators and barriers that impact teachers’ attitudes toward the use of DGBL at school.

The Learning Loop: Conceptualizing Just-in-Time Faculty Development.

As technology advances, the gap between learning and doing continues to close-especially for frontline academic faculty and clinician educators. For busy clinician faculty members, it can be difficult to find time to engage in skills and professional development. Competing interests between clinical care and various forms of academic work (e.g., research, administration, education) all create challenges for traditional group-based and/or didactic faculty development. The authors engaged in a synthetic narrative review of literature from several unrelated fields: learning technologies, medical education/health professions education, general/higher education. The aim for this review was to synthesize this pre-existing literature to propose a new conceptual model. The authors propose a new conceptual model, the Just-In-Time Learning Loop, to guide the development of online faculty development for just-in-time delivery. The Just-In-Time Learning Loop is a new conceptual framework that may be of use to those engaging in online, digital learning design. Faculty developers, especially in emergency medicine, can integrate leading concepts from the technology-enhanced learning field (e.g., microlearning, micro-credentialing, badging) to create new types of learning experiences for their end-users.

A card game for designing activities for technology-enhanced learning in higher education

The importance of providing mechanisms and tools that effectively support the transition from implicit to explicit representations of Learning Design has been emphasised by previous research in the field of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL). In addition, the benefits of Game-based learning approaches have been long documented in the educational research literature. The paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a card game that aims to support the design process of TEL activities in higher education. The game was tested by a group of 36 students and tutors (n = 36) in higher education during an interactive workshop. Feedback was asked by the participants using an anonymous survey. The results reveal that the participants a) are satisfied with the game process, b) appreciate the groupwork and interaction taking place, and c) believe that they used their communication and collaboration skills. The paper includes the description of the outputs of a group (i.e., the cards selected for their TEL scenario and their actual TEL scenario) to exemplify that it is possible to use the game in order to elicit or diagnose existing LD knowledge from the game participants. The paper concludes on the usefulness of the approach suggested, limitations, and plans for future work.

Rethinking the Development of Technology-Enhanced Learning and the Role of Cognitive Computing

Technology-enhanced learning (TEL) is important in social web. Recently, cognitive computing became significant to analyze sentiment and improve effectiveness in TEL field. So analyzing the development of cognitive computing, what and how its abilities improve TEL are necessary. For solving these issues, this study used systematic review approach based on technology view and enhancement view of TEL. Specifically, this study used topic search results in computer science field of “cognitive computing” and “anticipatory computing” in Web of Science database to do map analysis. Besides development footprints, the manuscript describes three development stages and key technologies of cognitive computing through burst study and step-by-step clustering. Finally, this study proposed influencing framework of cognitive computing on TEL and some research trends. This work provides an advanced background of TEL and a systemic review of cognitive computing, contributing to theory development and application of cognitive computing in TEL.

A Device for Children's Instrumental Creativity and Learning: An Overview of the MIROR Platform.

This article presents the pedagogical paradigm of reflexive interaction and its application in the field of technology-enhanced learning and children’s musical creativity. The main feature of reflexive interaction is the repetition-variation mechanism: something is repeated and varied during the interaction, through a continual process of imitation and variation. In the context of the MIROR project (EU-ICT Project), we exploited the educational potential of the reflexive interaction paradigm and implemented the MIROR platform, an educational device consisting of a set of softwares that implement the reflexive paradigm not only in music improvisation (as was the case for the first interactive reflexive system), but also in the field of music composition and dance. The platform was conceived as a tool to stimulate and develop musical and motor creativity in children, although it can also be used to teach a specific musical instrument. The hypothesis of the MIROR project was that reflexive interaction sustains and promotes the learning and creative expression processes of music and movement. This initial hypothesis, which stemmed mainly from the pilot study in which we observed children who were interacting with the first prototype of the interactive reflexive musical system, was subjected to a series of empirical studies conducted within the MIROR project, and was theoretically defined in order to lay down the foundations of the reflexive interaction paradigm and its pedagogical implications. This article summarizes the state-of-the-art of the project and brings together, in a comprehensive overview, the theoretical framework, the pedagogical concepts, the empirical studies, and the description of the MIROR platform, with the aim to reflect on the results achieved so far and point out the contribution of the reflexive perspective to the field of children’s instrumental learning and creativity.

Theory disputes and the development of the technology enhanced learning research field

This paper contributes to ongoing debates about theory application in technology enhanced learning (TEL) research. Such debates routinely highlight that the use of theory in the TEL field is problematic, and suggest that the issue is of fundamental importance to the development of the field. Yet different accounts within these debates are oriented towards ostensibly disparate issues and often, in themselves, have a somewhat fragmentary nature. This paper, therefore, seeks to synthesise and systematise a wide range of the arguments that are evident in the literature. A preliminary analysis highlights that the debates are occurring against a particular backdrop: a desire to newly re-constitute TEL as a bona fide scholarly discipline.Four key points of dispute are subsequently identified, which, it is argued, should understood against that backdrop. Those key points of dispute, whose analysis constitutes the core of the paper, are concerned, respectively with the continued implications of a theoretical ‘canon’ whose pre-eminence in the field is long-established; the problematic relations between the field’s ‘empirical’ and ‘theoretical’ discourses, which are positioned as often occurring in parallel; a need to better recognise the varied functions that different theories might play, whether in research projects or across larger research agendas; and the extent to which the TEL field should be theoretically aligned with other academic fields of enquiry or seek to position itself as, in some way, ‘exceptional’. Those four points of dispute are each disaggregated, within the analysis, into a range of distinct stances, and the relations between the stances and the points of dispute themselves are discussed. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the analysis, both for those TEL researchers wishing to engage with theory, and those scholars for whom theory application in the field is a distinct research object.Keywords: argumentation; field development; knowledge production; research agendas; technology enhanced learning research; theory application.Part of the Special Issue Debating the status of ‘theory’ in technology enhanced learning research

Liberating teachers from the dominant theories and the unquestioned mission: Towards ‘disruptive theories’ in technology enhanced learning research

In Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) research, technology is commonly perceived as an innovative tool to “enhance” the quality of pedagogical experiences. The assumptions that the introduction of new technology has brought about a more effective learning paradigm into current classrooms have rarely been challenged by TEL researchers. In this context, teachers are often considered as important actors who are responsible to achieve the urgent mission of TEL, which is to effectively integrate new technology in classrooms. However, this article argues that such blind faith in TEL can have ramifications in actual educational contexts. It is mainly because this blind faith can determine what is possible or impossible for teachers in enacting their pedagogical beliefs, and thus, in imagining alternative educational scenarios for their students. This paper, therefore aims to reveal how dominant theories in the TEL field, largely drawn from the common assumptions of an educational role of technology, produce a set of imperative claims about teachers and their subjectivity in the field of teacher education. By doing so, this research intends to envision new roles of theory in TEL research, arguing that ‘disruptive theory’ can help us to challenge the common, but uncritical assumptions prevailing in TEL and further open unique opportunities for more critical debates. The first part of the paper will conceptualise theory as discourse and describe a methodological approach utilised in this critical literature review project. The second part will critically review different theories in a set of scholarly journal articles (N=33) concerning TEL-related teacher education, highlighting the dominant, but limited ways in which the theories have guided knowledge construction in those articles. Three themes (i.e., building, medicalising, expanding) have been identified as common actions of theories in TEL research through the authors’ open coding process. The third part will point out the taken-for-granted assumptions in which TEL theories are commonly rooted. It continues to discuss alternative and imaginative ways in which theory can inspire TEL research based on three disruptive roles that a TEL theory may take. The disruptive theories are essential to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions with imaginative thoughts which seem to be dormant in TEL research. They may contribute to liberating teachers from the dominant theories and the unquestioned mission and further empowering them to be able to create their own pedagogical possibilities and ultimately, may contribute to freely educating their students.Keywords: discourse analysis; theory; technology; teacher education; TPACK; FoucaultPart of the Special Issue Debating the status of ‘theory’ in technology enhanced learning research

A Model and Tool to Support Pedagogical Scenario Building for Connectivist MOOC

The work presented in this paper examines part of a broader issue in the field of technology-enhanced learning and focused on Massive Open Online Courses environments (MOOC). The main goal is to provide an approach, models and tools to assist teachers in the scenario design process and the operationalization of pedagogical scenarios in a connectivist MOOC context. The major contribution of this work is the MOOC Authoring Tool (MOOCAT), which is a visual authoring tool that is intended for the design and deployment of cMOOC-oriented scenarios. MOOCAT has two main innovative features. The first feature offers a tool for designing educational scenarios in a simple way, through a graphical representation for defining learning workflow. The second feature is related to its capacity to bridge the gap between the design phase and its execution in different Learning Management Systems (LMS), by offering services that allow the automatic deployment of pedagogical scenarios to existing LMS. This paper presents the underlying model of MOOCAT, and describes the cMOOC scenario-building process. The tool was evaluated primarily from the point of view of utility and usability. A total of 40 individuals have participated in the experimentation. The findings confirm that MOOCAT can be used to design connectivist pedagogical scenarios and can provide all the necessary elements for the design of such courses. Feedback from participants emphasized the ease of use and the benefits of the proposed visual authoring tool.

Evaluating Innovation Injection into Educational Contexts

One of the big challenges faced by research in the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) field has to do with the injection of innovation into real educational contexts. Very often, innovative technologies fail to be taken up by practitioners because of difficulties in absorbing both methodological and technological innovation of the target contexts. This may be caused by resistance of the target users associated with conservatism of the contexts, but also by inadequate approaches to innovation promotion or even lack of evidence of the return of investment of the innovation itself. Thus, a crucial need of the TEL field consists in the ability to evaluate both the efficacy of a new technology in the specific context to permeate, and the effectiveness and adequacy of the intervention designed to inject this innovation into the intended situation. This paper contributes to fill in this gap by proposing an approach that joins aspects of Guskey’s model to evaluate the effectiveness of teacher training events together with indicators of the well-known Technology Acceptance Model, generally used to predict acceptance of a new technology. The approach proposed, called T&EAM (Technology & Event Acceptance Model), is illustrated. The discussion concerns its strengths and weaknesses and provides inputs for future applications and research.

Studying tag vocabulary evolution of social tagging systems in learning object repositories

In the field of Technology-enhanced Learning (TeL), social tagging has been applied to Learning Object Repositories (LORs) mainly as a means:(a) to offer an alternative way of classifying the Learning Objects (LOs) based on the tag vocabulary created by the end-users of the LOs, and (b) to facilitate the enhancement of LOs’ descriptions via collaborative tagging. However, in order to be able to understand how a social tagging system performs and whether it can deliver the aforementioned goals, it is important to be able to investigate the evolution of the tag vocabulary, which constitutes the core component of a social tagging system. Within this context, research has focused on different facets of social tagging systems such as the growth of the tag vocabulary, the frequency and reuse of tags, as well as the stability of the tag vocabulary but there are only sporadic studies for investigating these issues in the field of LORs. This paper aims to contribute in studying how social tagging systems perform in the context of LORs by investigating the evolution of the tag vocabulary in OpenScienceResources Repository, a science education domain specific repository with a rich dataset operating in Europe for 5 years.

Academic peer pressure in social media: Experiences from the heavy, the targeted and the restricted user

The degree of social media uptake in research practice differs greatly, across and within disciplines. This qualitative study explores the use of social media within a specific target group of researchers working in the field of technology-enhanced learning. The individual cases reveal a range from heavy use, leading to addiction, to very restricted or no use of social media. One of the main implications of social media penetration in academia is the emergence of peer pressure. People adopt different strategies and different digital identities to cope with the perceived pressure. Based on individual cases, this qualitative study gives insights into current transformation processes related to the scholarly uptake of social media and leads to the establishment of further challenging research questions.

Recent Developments in Technology-Enhanced Learning: A Critical Assessment

Les nostres societats són considerades societats del coneixement, on l’aprenentatge al llarg de la vida obté cada vegada més importà ncia. Al mateix temps, les tecnologies digitals formen part de gairebé tots els aspectes de la nostra vida i tenen un paper important en l’educació. En l’última dècada s’han vist nombrosos avenços en l’à mbit de l’aprenentatge enriquit per la tecnologia. El 2004 George Siemens va presentar el connectivisme com a teoria de l’aprenentatge per a l’era digital. Les seves idees van inspirar la creació de cursos online massius oberts (MOOCs), que han estat objecte de gran atenció recentment. La literatura científica relacionada amb l’ús de dispositius digitals per a l’aprenentatge s’ha centrat en les potencialitats que els usuaris perceben d’aquests dispositius. La investigació del disseny també ens ha mostrat que els entorns d’aprenentatge enriquits per la tecnologia són complexos i han de ser vistos com a ecologies d’aprenentatge. Les discussions sobre connectivisme i MOOCs, les potencialitats dels dispositius digitals i la investigació del disseny han aparegut en diferents discursos observats de manera aïllada. En aquest sentit, és important assenyalar que els avenços en l’aprenentatge enriquit per la tecnologia poden i han de mostrar-se relacionats entre si.

Research trends in technology-enhanced learning / Tendencias de la investigación en el aprendizaje favorecido por la tecnología

In this paper, we show findings through a data-content analysis of 555 abstracts of articles published in 2013 from five major journals in the field of technology-enhanced learning. The data analysis, using WordStat 6.0 software, followed two main steps. Firstly, a descriptor dictionary was built, and secondly, the frequency and clusters of descriptors were calculated. The theoretical review of previous studies reveals four types of reference topics: technology, environments and applications; processes and learning outcomes; learning activities; and subjects. The analysis of the abstracts reveals two great lines of research. The first is related to technology, including virtual learning environments, game-based learning, mobile learning and learning through communication technologies. The second is related to learning content and includes engineering, mathematics, science, reading and writing.

Aspects to Be Considered when Implementing Technology-Enhanced Learning Approaches: A Literature Review

The significance of approaches to technology-enhanced learning (TEL) has increased rapidly during the last few years. Nowadays in education different approaches such as game-based learning, web-based learning, video-based online courses, and many others are used on a daily basis. However, what defines the success of technology-enhanced learning approaches and how can such approaches be developed in a structured way? Furthermore, what different aspects have to be considered while doing so? To answer these questions, 4567 publications were analyzed in this present literature review in order to recognize the different aspects of implementing technology-enhanced learning approaches. Finally, 20 categories are defined in four main areas that summarize all the aspects in the field of technology-enhanced learning. Moreover, the study also reveals research areas that are important but hardly investigated in the observed journals of this study.

Developing a theoretical foundation for the reflexive interaction paradigm with implications for training music skill and creativity.

This article introduces the theoretical framework for the reflexive interaction paradigm, which is the basis of the MIROR project (Musical Interaction Relying on Reflexion), a European funded project aimed at developing an educational platform for children's music and dance education. Hie wide-ranging project has led to much activity and many presentations; however, the theory has yet to be presented in a specialized journal, and that is the purpose of the present article. Elere, the theoretical framework will be discussed from a systematic musicological perspective (cf. Leman, 2008).The elaboration of the reflexive interaction paradigm began some years ago. Pachet (2003) described a system that produces real-time responses that imitate the style of a musician who plays a keyboard, a virtual alter ego, called the Continuator, with which to undertake challenging duets. The idea was to develop a machine that gives the user the perception of interacting with something similar to her/himself. The system was originally conceived for adult musicians. Elowever, an exploratory study with children (Addessi & Pachet, 2005) immediately underlined the potential of these systems for the development of creative musical experiences, bringing a fresh perspective to technological and pedagogical applications. Hie MIROR project represented the first attempt to apply tills paradigm in the field of technology-enhanced learning in music and dance education (Addessi & Volpe, 2011). The aim of tliis article is not to introduce the technical properties of the reflexive musical systems, as already introduced in several papers by Pachet (2003, 2006) and more recently by Pachet, Roy, and Barbieri (2011), but rallier to investigate the human behaviors enacted during the interaction with reflexive machines and the implications for music creativity and learning. From a methodological point of view, we started to elaborate the reflexive interaction paradigm through the observation of children interacting with the reflexive machines. On the basis of these observations, we then developed several hypotheses that have been supported by theoretical discussion based on the scientific literature and on empirical data collected by means of exploratory and controlled experiments with children and adults, in both naturalistic contexts and focus groups.The article begins with the conceptual and technical background of the interactive reflexive musical systems (IRMS) and then follows a path that explains tire human behaviors involved in reflexive interaction. These highlighted elements will be proposed to support tire hypothesis that reflexive interaction could enhance teaching/learning processes and musical creativity in children, posing some fundamentals for a pedagogical music psychology of reflexive interaction.The Interactive Reflexive Musical SystemsThis section introduces the technical and conceptual definition of tire IRMS referred to in this study. Hie notion of IRMS emerged from experiments, especially with children, in original modes of man-machine interactions, in which the machine imitates the user's musical inputs, allowing the users to manipulate a sound image of themselves. The first IRMS prototype, the Continuator, interactively learned and reproduced music in the same style as a human playing a keyboard, as a stylistic musical mirror: The musical pirrases generated in real time by the system are similar but different from those played by the users (Pachet, 2003).In a typical session with the Continuator, a user freely plays musical phrases with a (Midi) keyboard, and the system produces an immediate answer, increasingly closer to its musical style. As the session develops, a dialogue takes place between the user and the machine, in which the system and the user reply to each other by repeating and varying the musical ideas. Interactions with the users are analyzed by IRMS to gradually build a model of the user. …

Assessing the crossdisciplinarity of technology‐enhanced learning with science overlay maps and diversity measures

AbstractThis paper deals with the assessment of the crossdisciplinarity of technology‐enhanced learning (TEL). Based on a general discussion of the concept interdisciplinarity and a summary of the discussion in the field, two empirical methods from scientometrics are introduced and applied. Science overlay maps and the Rao‐Stirling diversity index are used to analyze the TEL field with a scientometric analysis. The science overlay maps show that a wide variety of disciplines contributes to research in the field. The analysis reveals that the field has been operating on a relatively high level of crossdisciplinarity in the last 10 years compared with six other fields of reference. Only in 2004 a decrease in the level of crossdisciplinarity could be identified.

The effect of users' tagging motivation on the enlargement of digital educational resources metadata

The emerging Web 2.0 applications have allowed new ways of characterizing digital educational resources, which moves from the expert-based descriptions relying on formal classification systems such as the IEEE Learning Object Metadata (LOM) to a less formal user-based tagging. This alternative way of characterizing digital educational resources is commonly referred to as social tagging, whereas the collection of tags created by the different users individually is referred to as folksonomy. As a result, a number of studies have been reported in the field of Technology-enhanced Learning (TeL) which provide evidence that social tagging has the potential to enlarge metadata descriptions, as well as the formal structured vocabularies with additional terms derived by the resulted folksonomy but more in depth studies are needed regarding this enlargement process. Thus, one issue to investigate further is the possible influence of users’ tagging motivation to the resulted enlarged metadata descriptions. In this paper we aim to investigate this issue by first proposing a methodology that aims to evaluate whether users’ tagging motivation can influence (a) the enlargement of educational resources possible descriptions compared to the anticipated creators’ descriptions and (b) the resulted folksonomy compared with formal structured vocabularies used by the creators of the educational resources and then, apply it to an existing LOR with more than 3,000 science education resources, 434 taggers and 14,707 social tags. Our experiments provided evidence that taggers with a specific type of tagging motivation can produce tags that are significantly different from formal metadata generated by the creators of the educational resources.

Identifying Areas of Tension in the field of technology-enhanced learning: Results of an international Delphi study

Despite steady progress in research in technology-enhanced learning (TEL), the translation of research findings and technology into educational practices falls short of expectations. We present five Areas of Tension which were identified and evaluated in an international Delphi study on TEL. These tensions might impede a more comprehensive inclusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) in educational settings. The Delphi study was embedded in the European Network of Excellence STELLAR (Sustaining Technology Enhanced Learning LArge-scale multidisciplinary Research). Five Delphi rounds were conducted to identify Areas of Tension and Core Research Areas in TEL. An Area of Tension opposes two conflicting views on a certain technological development regarding the future of TEL. In the present article we describe the design of the Delphi study and report the results regarding the Areas of Tension. These areas were identified by collecting visionary statements on the future of TEL (Round 1) and by having 230 international experts evaluate those statements (Round 2). The emerging tensions were integrated into five Areas of Tension (Round 3) and evaluated by 569 international experts on several dimensions for their significance for TEL and TEL research (Round 4). The identified areas concern a) data tracking for personalized learning versus data privacy, b) the spreading of technology reducing the digital divide versus even increasing it, c) ubiquitous learning opportunities versus critical and focused processing of information, d) continuous innovation in the classroom versus approved practices, and e) individualized versus standardized learning paths. ► International Delphi study on the future of technology-enhanced learning (TEL). ► Three panels of experts in TEL with 41, 230, and 569 participants each. ► Visionary statements on the future of TEL generated by these experts. ► Identification of five Areas of Tension in TEL.

Interlinking educational resources and the web of data

PurposeResearch in the area of technology‐enhanced learning (TEL) throughout the last decade has largely focused on sharing and reusing educational resources and data. This effort has led to a fragmented landscape of competing metadata schemas, or interface mechanisms. More recently, semantic technologies were taken into account to improve interoperability. The linked data approach has emerged as the de facto standard for sharing data on the web. To this end, it is obvious that the application of linked data principles offers a large potential to solve interoperability issues in the field of TEL. This paper aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, approaches are surveyed that are aimed towards a vision of linked education, i.e. education which exploits educational web data. It particularly considers the exploitation of the wealth of already existing TEL data on the web by allowing its exposure as linked data and by taking into account automated enrichment and interlinking techniques to provide rich and well‐interlinked data for the educational domain.FindingsSo far web‐scale integration of educational resources is not facilitated, mainly due to the lack of take‐up of shared principles, datasets and schemas. However, linked data principles increasingly are recognized by the TEL community. The paper provides a structured assessment and classification of existing challenges and approaches, serving as potential guideline for researchers and practitioners in the field.Originality/valueBeing one of the first comprehensive surveys on the topic of linked data for education, the paper has the potential to become a widely recognized reference publication in the area.

Adaptive neuro-fuzzy pedagogical recommender

Neuro-Fuzzy Pedagogical Recommender (NFPR) is adaptive recommender based on neuro-fuzzy inference, that can be used to create pedagogical rules in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) systems. NFPR is domain independent, provides easy to use API for integration with other systems, and comes with specialized tool (wizard) for creation of NFPR software components. The most important feature of NFPR is its flexibility, that allows teachers to create their own set of pedagogical rules. The proposed model has been implemented and tested with simulated data. Our effort in bringing neuro-fuzzy recommender to the field of TEL (Technology Enhanced Learning) seems to be the first attempt of its kind.