Networked Learning Environments Research Articles

Traversing Situations and Contexts in Networked Learning

To meet the goals of business education and develop responsible business leaders, educators need to design networked learning environments that nurture and leverage connections. This includes connecting students to each other, their teachers, to industry and to the community. This paper aims to understand factors that support or inhibit students’ participation in networked learning in a business education context. Productive participation in learning networks is essential if students are to connect meaningfully with people and resources in ways that support their learning and experience. As the physical and digital learning environments students engage in often include complex configurations of tools, tasks, and epistemic resources, they require the skills and dispositions to effectively transition between these environments. Using a situated readiness framework by Hachmann and Dohn (2018), this study presents an analysis of focus group data from business students in higher education to identify ways in which students’ level of readiness impacts on their ability to participate effectively in learning networks. Students in the present study highlighted a range of challenges they faced when attempting to traverse between face-to-face and online learning environments. However, our study also revealed numerous other situations or contexts that business students needed to traverse as part of their networked learning experience. These were grouped into five overarching categories: domain; space and configuration; format, structure and resources; people or groups; and purpose and responsibility. Overlayed onto the situated readiness framework, these categories can be used by other researchers to gain a more nuanced understanding of how students navigate the complexities of networked learning environments. Future research conducted across a range of learning contexts would allow the categories to be refined and built upon. The study also identified skills and dispositions that contributed to students' level of readiness to navigate situations and contexts within networked learning environments, and some preliminary design considerations based on the findings. To support business students in higher education on their journey to becoming responsible business leaders, it is imperative that they are able to participate productively in complex networked learning environments. As educators, this requires us to understand their level of readiness to do so and equip them with the skills and dispositions they need to participate effectively.

The Challenges and Opportunities to Learning in the Making Through Dialogue in Networked Spaces

In this workshop we will recognize two key challenges to fostering rich, reflective, and inclusive dialogue in networked learning environments. First, the challenge of providing scaffolds to prompt reflection and create safe spaces that encourage learners to consider unfamiliar and diverse positionality and think outside their current frame of reference. Second, the challenge of how and where to host such discussions when learning in networked spaces that prioritizes ownership, inclusivity, and open sharing.

“The facts alone will not save us”

This workshop aims to explore speculative fiction as a form of educational enquiry and practice. In this pursuit it draws upon the provocative contention of Ruha Benjamin (2016) that “the facts, alone, will not save us.” Instead, she argues, “social change requires novel fictions that reimagine and rework all that is taken for granted about the current structure of society. Such narratives are not meant to convince others of what is, but to expand our own visions of what is possible” (Benjamin, 2016).The ethical implications of educational technologies (EdTech) from simple classroom tools to almighty platforms are raising increasing concerns. These are postdigital concerns insofar as they are inescapable yet also emergent and ongoing. They are amplified by the power and influence of AI (Bozkurt et al, 2023; Cox et al 2023) with its implications for fraud, scams, surveillance, privacy and more fundamentally encodings of privileged norms of race, gender, sexuality, religion and so on. In addition the material and carbon costs of digital learning may force us to reckon with EdTech as inherently ecologically destructive (Selwyn, 2021).Is this to say that all our futures are grim and that hope has been foreclosed? Or if not, how can we work together to plot our way out of these problems? Indeed, would trying to solve all of this too quickly be part of the problem and start another round of techno-solutionism? One approach that has seen increasing attention is the use of storytelling as a sense-making activity that may allow us to first “stay with the trouble” (Harraway, 2020) and describe it, before rushing to the fix. This recent speculative turn has seen educational researchers attempt to cast themselves as writers of fictions that can explore the multitude of interrelated socio-technical issues that are characteristic of complex contemporary networked learning environments (Houlden & Veletsianos, 2023; Hrastinski, 2023; Selwyn et al., 2020; Macgilchrist et al., 2020). It has seen teachers and educators developing or adopting speculative scenarios as tools for students to explore the types of socio-technical entanglements that our world now involves (Krutka et al., 2022).In this workshop participants will co-create speculative fictions that explore hopeful and dystopic possibilities of education. Participants will explore the development of educational fictions based on speculative futuring, of no-yet-ness (Ross, 2017), but also alternative histories that might allow us see the prospective tools of our work, including texts, as neither neutral nor ahistorical. The concept of anti-patterns and deliberately destructive design will be introduced to allow participants to pull on conceptual threads that help unravel education as a relentless and progressive assembly and instead see it as a story that may be unlearned and retold.In summary this workshop provides an invitation to participants to use their deep imaginative capabilities to dream new educational interfaces, via speculative fiction, that allow us to be more awake and alive to ourselves, our students and the communities we serve.

Empowering Education

E-learning platforms have evolved to become essential instruments for educational content delivery. However, a significant challenge lies in the development of high-quality educational content, a process often constrained by resource-intensive requirements and the expertise necessary for content creation. This study introduces an innovative system designed to revolutionize content creation and delivery in an educational setting by leveraging the capabilities of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLMs), specifically Generative Pre-Trained Transformers (GPT). Our approach utilizes prompt engineering, a method of tailoring input text to guide the output of these models, thus generating content that is aligned with the specific needs of educators and learners. Empirical evaluation of our system indicates promising results. User feedback reveals a high acceptance rate, with approximately 84% of participants expressing satisfaction. Moreover, 82% of users verified the accuracy of the generated content, and 83% indicated their willingness to integrate this content into their teaching practices. This research also aims to explore further the potential of automated content creation in enhancing networked learning environments. Our focus will be on expanding the applicability of this technology and investigating its impact on the broader educational ecosystem.

Problems and Development Strategies of Music Education in Primary and Secondary Schools Based on Network Information Technology

Music education has traditionally followed a one-size-fits-all approach, often failing to address the diverse needs and preferences of individual students. A recommender system for music education is a specialized software or algorithm that helps students, educators, or music enthusiasts discover and access relevant music content, learning materials, or educational resources. This paper introduces the Graph Theory-based Information Technology(GTIT) music learning system, a revolutionary platform designed to personalize music education. The GTIT system leverages advanced technology, data-driven recommendations, and social learning networks to enhance the musical journey for students. The proposed GTIT model uses the graph theory-based music education model for the estimation of the data features with information technology. The proposed GTIT model comprises the stacked recommender model for the classification of the appropriate features in the music education data. The data for the analysis of the proposed GTIT model is collected for the existing sources. With the extracted features the recommender system is designed for the classification and recommendation of the features related to the music education. The proposed model explores the key components of the GTIT system, including the assessment of students' musical preferences, skill levels, and learning patterns. These factors are analyzed to provide tailored music recommendations that keep students engaged and motivated. Additionally, the GTIT system employs graph theory to create connections among students, fostering collaboration and social learning. Simulation results reveals that students who engage with the learning system experience significant improvements in their musical skills and knowledge. The personalized recommendations and collaborative learning environment contribute to enhanced skill development and musical progress. Moreover, the sense of community established by the system encourages peer interaction and mentorship. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the GTIT music education system's impact on students' learning experiences, skill development, and collaborative efforts. The analysis expressed the transformative potential of personalized recommendations and networked learning environments in music education. The GTIT system serves as a model for the future of music instruction, offering a promising approach for educators and institutions seeking to provide engaging and personalized music education.

Students’ Decisions in the Context of Social Network Learning Interaction

In the context of globalization and technology-driven advancements in the 21st century, learning methods have undergone significant changes. The development of informatization education and social networking technology has facilitated the integration of learning into every aspect of daily life, extending beyond the confines of traditional classrooms. Students interact and cooperate with other learners on social media platforms, which provide them with rich learning resources. However, making the best choice from them has become a core issue. Although the evaluation and selection of learning resources on social networks have been extensively studied in the academic community, most of the studies have focused on the observable attributes of resources while neglecting the subjective perception and experiential attributes of students. This study aimed to investigate how students make learning decisions based on their expectations of learning energy efficiency in social network learning environments. The study also considered observable and experiential attributes of learning resources to provide more comprehensive and accurate references for learning decisions.

The application of virtual reality technology in the teaching of clarinet music art under the mobile wireless network learning environment

The traditional education model is undergoing tremendous changes, and network education has gradually developed and matured. This paper first gives an overview of the development history of the clarinet and the structure of the clarinet and then starts with the performance of the clarinet. This paper analyses and solves the situations that students are prone to encounter in teaching and expresses some opinions on the teaching of performance methods; also gives a brief overview of the psychology of going on stage. Combined with the above, some discussions are made on the teaching of performance methods. Performance requires not only skills but also music. Performance summarizes the characteristics and styles of music in various periods from the classical period to the century, and then discusses how the performer forms his performance style; the performance style is the re-creation and re-creation of the performer based on being loyal to the author's intention. This article compares and studies the performance of the clarinet before the 20th century and the performance of the clarinet today, and deeply explores the reasons why the clarinet performance method has formed the current performance method after a long evolution. The experimental results prove that virtual reality technology has made positive attempts and breakthroughs in the field of clarinet music art teaching. It has created an environment of “self-learning”, and the traditional learning method of “teaching to promote learning” has been replaced by learners through their learning. Interaction with the information environment to obtain a new learning method of knowledge and skills, the optimized local matrix decomposition recommendation algorithm can greatly improve problems such as expensive musical instruments and lessons, scarce teachers, and lack of facilities, making the traditional clarinet Music arts teaching more diverse.

External and Internal Predictors of Student Satisfaction with Online Learning Achievement

Building and testing a framework of interactive and indirect predictors of student satisfaction would help us understand how to improve student online learning experience. The current study proposed that external predictors such as poor technological, environmental, and pedagogical factors would be internalized as negative psychological traits and indirectly predict student satisfaction in online learning. Results of multivariate regressions with 5824 Chinese undergraduate students demonstrated that instructors’ online teaching experience and communication with students had a stronger predictive effect on student satisfaction than wireless network quality and learning environment. Providing after-class reviewing materials to students or having longer self-learning time would not buffer students from negative external factors. Structural equation modeling analysis results showed that inferior technological, environmental, and pedagogical factors would be internalized into negative attitudes and emotions toward online learning and indirectly predict student satisfaction. Our study has implications for better understanding the extensive influence of online learning barriers caused by external conditions and building preventive mechanisms through the improvement of instructors’ teaching experience and communication with students.

Connectivism Theory: Exploring its Relevance in Informing Lesotho’s Integrated Curriculum for Effective Learning in the Digital Age

At present, the world is immersed in technology which seems to alter people’s way of life and how people learn. While traditional learning theories seem insufficient to explain how technology and the proliferation of information could be manipulated for effective learning, Connectivism theory emerged to salvage this insufficiency. Different countries around the globe are also occupied with reforming their curriculums to address contemporary issues. The study, informed by technology adoption model, deployed qualitative content analysis to investigate the degree of alignment between connectivism theory and Lesotho’s integrated curriculum for effective learning in the digital age. Document analysis was used to analyse the pedagogy section in CAP in order to identify principles and objectives that overlap with the major principles of connectivism. The findings indicated that to a large extent, connectivism and Lesotho’s integrated curriculum principles overlap. However, Lesotho’s integrated curriculum shrinks in explicitly guiding how technological skills could be promoted. It was therefore recommended that technology and digital tools should be integrated into the curriculum to enable students to engage in networked learning. In addition, there should be training of both teachers and students on ICT and network learning environments to enhance students’ learning.

Translation in CLIL

Abstract Translation in CLIL? It may seem a contradiction in terms. CLIL means Content and Language Integrated Learning, and is based on the assumption that content is taught through the second/foreign language. No room is left to the learners’ mother tongue, which is either declared off limits or used in very limited cases. So, what is the role of translation in CLIL? Is there any place for it at all? In the past few years, there has been a series of hectic efforts put in by schools and universities to organise CLIL programmes and teacher training courses, and a number of studies have appeared to help with the process. In spite of the wide support that is now being given to the use of the first language in language learning, CLIL proponents tend to neglect the role of translation in content and language learning. Drawing on current research on CLIL, this study sets out to investigate the nature of the contribution that translation makes to language and content learning. The work is grounded on research conducted on empirical data drawn from CLIL courses taught since 2005, inspired by social constructivist pedagogy in a networked learning environment, and a collaborative translation approach.

COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience

Aim: Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has been causing unprecedented challenges to higher education by disrupting traditional face-to-face teaching as well as international mobility of students, faculty and staff. The factual knock-out of established modes of teaching and learning and the restriction of international travel called for rapid action and a shift towards remote learning and teaching.
 Methods: Within the framework of a pragmatic approach, global health faculty from Fulda University of Applied Sciences in Germany and York University in Canada, including a small group of public health students from Cluj in Romania, established a globally networked learning environment. Between November and December 2020, a total of 147 students participated in joint virtual lectures and international collaborative group projects. To capture the acceptance and effectiveness of the innovative didactic experience, a semi-structured student survey was conducted directly after the last session.
 Results: The overall rating of internet-based cross-university teaching-learning was positive: Students reported benefits of an enriched learning experience through the sharing of different perspectives, approaches and debates with international professors and peers. Success and overcoming challenges for collaboration among students depended strongly on the level of coordination relating to time differences and expectations.
 Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that transnational inter-university teaching-learning is feasible, provides a beneficial pedagogic option and points promising ways to the future.
 Conflict of interest: None declared.
 Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Prof. Dr. Kai Michelsen and Prof. Dr. Marius I. Ungureanu to the development of the three-country teaching-learning experience.

The E-learning of Network Environment

E-Learning is on the cusp of a transformation. For several years, it has been a matter of educational institutions implementing systems and processes for delivering courses online. That was a logical. 1st step. that has largely been accomplished.Today’s e-Learning challenge is considerably greater than just bringing courses online, one with a pay-off that will revolutionize education inHuda Abdul Alle Al-AmweeAl-Mustanseriy UniversityComputer scienceThe E-Learning of Network Environment …...………..Huda Abdul Alle Al-AmweeJ. OF COL. OF B .ED. NO.51 2 / 2007ways that online classes only begin to suggest. That challenge is to break through course-based limitations in order to create true Networked Learning Environments. A Networked Learning Environment in the Internet age applies new technology to a very old concept—that learning is much more than classes and grades. It is about the learning that takes place in a vibrant community of people and resources. The Internet has removed the limits of time and proximity that once restricted this community. In a true Networked Learning Environment, any student, instructor or researcher can access any learning resource at anytime from anyplace. Similar to the Internet, a Networked Learning Environment is really a network of networks—as simple as a lecturer and her class or as complex as a global web of instructors collaborating to develop a brand new curriculum. The power of the Networked Learning Environment today is that it creates unlimited possibilities for students and faculty, far beyond the limitation of books, bricks and mortar. While most institutions are evolving toward the Networked Learning Environment one step at a time, some are taking the leap all at once. This white paper describes the NLE and lays out Blackboard’s vision for providing solutions that will help educational institutions realize their goals.

Self-regulated learning: A key factor in the effectiveness of online learning for second language learners.

With the further development of Internet technology, online learning has become an important way for learners in the digital age. As an important learning strategy, self-regulated learning plays an important role in e-learning. Whether learners can succeed in the network learning environment largely depends on their online self-regulating learning ability. This research reviews the theories and models of self-regulated learning, and analyzes the influences of individual factors and external factors on second language self-regulated learning in the online learning environment. And some implications in learning and teaching are given, as well as suggestions for future research.

The Development of Intelligent Education and Teachers' Professional Informatization Led by an Intelligent Ubiquitous Network.

This study applies intelligent ubiquitous network technology to the field of education and leads to the benign development of intelligent education and teachers' professional informatization. This study proposes the concepts of eco-classroom, smart education, and flipped classroom and conducts practical research on the teaching effectiveness of the three elements of eco-classroom: teachers, students, and environment. Because of the problems of inaccurate positioning of data fusion, single application function, and difficulty of automatic correlation of data stored in multiple networks in the intelligent ubiquitous sensing environment, the method and path of multidimensional data fusion governance are proposed and put into practice to achieve good results in practice. Based on the characteristics of ubiquitous learning in time, space, and dimensional changes between reality and time, combined with the law of knotted learning and Bloom's mastery learning theory, the five components of the teaching model and their correlations are sorted out, and the teaching model of higher education under the vision of ubiquitous learning is constructed to achieve the goal of students' mastering knowledge and skills and promote the innovation of the education and teaching model. The model interaction site is created, a ranking system is developed, and professional standards for the new era are developed to help educators reconstruct their professional competencies. The concept and characteristics of knowledge sharing in the ubiquitous network environment are analyzed, the knowledge sharing model in the ubiquitous network learning environment is constructed, the status of knowledge sharing practice in the ubiquitous network environment is studied, and suggestions for improvement are put forward to optimize knowledge sharing in the ubiquitous network learning environment.

Vocational Interests of Students in an International Network Learning Environment

Despite the fact that vocational interests constitute one of the main variables that influence decision-making, their study does not begin until ages that could require late hours, such as Secondary Education. In order to alleviate this deficit, a longitudinal study was carried out, whose main objective was to analyse to what extent a networked learning environment contributes to a better behaviour of primary school students towards their vocational interests. An educational program was developed and implemented based on the international R&D e-Cultures Project. Spain, Portugal and several Latin American countries participated in the research. The evaluation of the program was carried out using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design in which an ad hoc questionnaire was applied to collect the data. The results showed a stronger career decision in boys (as opposed to girls). On the other hand, vocational interests were less related to the country of residence. It is concluded that vocational guidance, working collaboratively in a networked learning environment with an intercultural perspective, enhances the decision-making process and definition of professional goals, contributing to the teaching of science in primary school students.

The Expectations and Reality of E-Learning

Following the historical and technological shifts that led to the wide emergence of transformative educational methods, this study offers a developmental perspective to the reality of E-learning. The study further discusses the development of E-learning applications and assess the availability and appropriateness of the educational curriculum and related pedagogical constructs in an Internet networked learning environment. In addition, there is an attempt to address the theoretical foundations of E-learning environments and the educational implications and affordance in the contexts of E-learning. The study, meanwhile, focuses on the effectiveness of E-learning, its advantages and disadvantages and explores how virtual learning is enhanced by merging its principles with the use of new technologies in education, how virtual learning may be improved by integrating educational principles with the use of modern technologies in the classroom, and how modern social practices influence the roles of both instructors and students.

International Opportunities in Higher Education Promoted by the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of A Three-Country Teaching-Learning Experience

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges and opportunities to teaching in higher education. The sudden pivot from in-person to online education posed unprecedented challenges to both teachers and students. At the same time, the sudden worldwide suspension of traditional ways of lecturing opened a space for experiments with innovative pedagogic approaches and techniques, including various forms of real-time inter-university exchange and student cooperation. COVID-19 pandemic caused a sudden and disruptive shift to emergency remote learning and teaching, as well as a simultaneous halt to international mobility of students, faculty and staff. These changes to established modes of teaching and learning in higher education along with the de facto end of all international mobility efforts led global health course directors from York University in Canada and Fulda University of Applied Sciences in Germany to establish a globally networked learning environment involving shared virtual lectures and international collaborative group projects. Students reported benefits of an enriched learning experience through the sharing of different perspectives, approaches and debates with international professors and peers. Coordination relating to time differences and expectations played a key role in success and overcoming challenges for collaboration among students. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that cross-border inter-university teaching and learning is a feasible and beneficial pedagogic option.

Research on Resource Personalization Recommendation Algorithm and Model Based on Computer Deep Learning

In the big data environment, the network learning environment has the problems of “information overload” and “information trek”. In the online learning process, if we can obtain an intelligent, targeted, and personalized learning resource recommendation service, the learning efficiency and learning experience will be greatly improved. Personalized learning resource recommendation technology has gradually become an important research topic in the field of education and intelligent information processing. This paper mainly combines deep learning and recommendation algorithms to design a framework to improve the accuracy of recommendation results.

Effects of Social Network Information on Online Language Learning Performance

This study examines the value and impact of social network information on a user's language learning performance by conducting an online experiment in a peer-to-peer collaborative language learning marketplace. Social information or information about others in one's network can present a socially networked learning environment that enables learners to engage more in the learning process. Experimental research design in an online language learning marketplace was conducted. The study finds evidence that the mere visibility of social network information positively impacts a learner's learning performance. Learners that engage with social interaction perform better than those that do not. In addition, active social interaction has a stronger impact on learning performance as compared to passive social interaction. The study concludes with implications for platform developers to enable the visibility of social information and engineer the user experience to enhance interactive learning.

Rethinking A Framework for Contextualising and Collaborating in MOOCs by Higher Education Institutions in Africa

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online courses that are open to anyone with Internet access. Pioneered in North America, they were developed for contexts with broader access to technology and wider access to the Internet. As globally networked learning environments (GNLEs), MOOCs foster collaborative communities and learning in ways not conceived as feasible until recently. The affordances of MOOCs, such as the ability to access learning beyond one’s immediacy, exemplify their benefits for open and distance learning, especially in developing countries that continue to consume rather than produce online courses. However, the globality of MOOCs and their delivery mode pose a challenge of contextualising learning content to the local needs of educational institutions or individual students that choose to use the courses. This theoretical paper used a desk-research approach by revising literature to investigate and propose ways of contextualising MOOCs to the African higher education setting. It applied the principles of reuse and repurposing learning content, while suggesting the use of mobile learning as a technological delivery solution that is relevant to the local context. The paper also suggests a framework for inter-institutional collaboration for higher education institutions to guide future efforts in the creation and sharing of credit-bearing MOOCs.