Student-Centered Learning: Functional Requirements for Integrated Systems to Optimize Learning

The realities of the 21st-century learner require that schools and educators fundamentally change their practice. "Educators must produce college- and career-ready graduates that reflect the future these students will face. And, they must facilitate learning through means that align with the defining attributes of this generation of learners."Today, we know more than ever about how students learn, acknowledging that the process isn't the same for every student and doesn't remain the same for each individual, depending upon maturation and the content being learned. We know that students want to progress at a pace that allows them to master new concepts and skills, to access a variety of resources, to receive timely feedback on their progress, to demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways and to get direction, support and feedback from—as well as collaborate with—experts, teachers, tutors and other students.The result is a growing demand for student-centered, transformative digital learning using competency education as an underpinning.iNACOL released this paper to illustrate the technical requirements and functionalities that learning management systems need to shift toward student-centered instructional models. This comprehensive framework will help districts and schools determine what systems to use and integrate as they being their journey toward student-centered learning, as well as how systems integration aligns with their organizational vision, educational goals and strategic plans.Educators can use this report to optimize student learning and promote innovation in their own student-centered learning environments. The report will help school leaders understand the complex technologies needed to optimize personalized learning and how to use data and analytics to improve practices, and can assist technology leaders in re-engineering systems to support the key nuances of student-centered learning

Teaching and Assessing College STEM Courses Online During COVID-19: Evidence-based Strategies and Recommendations

Since the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, most schools, colleges, and universities worldwide underwent a paradigm shift by transitioning to digital teaching and learning modalities. This phenomenon was essential to mitigate the contagion; however, the academic institutions needed to quickly come up with ways to ensure that the quality and rigor of education were maintained, especially the active and experiential learning required by undergraduate and graduate courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This paper highlights key approaches reported or proposed to effectively conduct college-level, in-person STEM courses online owing to the pandemic. These would range from synchronous versus asynchronous pedagogies to methods of teaching and assessing traditional face-to-face courses remotely, along with the application of cutting-edge technologies to uphold academic integrity. In addition, the analysis would help identify and bridge gaps among college students, faculty, and administrators in integrating instructional and evaluation tools for distance STEM education

Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort

Transforming pre-service teacher curriculum: observation through a TPACK lens

This paper will discuss an international online collaborative learning experience through the lens of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The teacher knowledge required to effectively provide transformative learning experiences for 21st century learners in a digital world is complex, situated and changing. The discussion looks beyond the opportunity for knowledge development of content, pedagogy and technology as components of TPACK towards the interaction between those three components. Implications for practice are also discussed. In today’s technology infused classrooms it is within the realms of teacher educators, practising teaching and pre-service teachers explore and address effective practices using technology to enhance learning

Transformation Change via Disruptive Technology: Removing Education Barriers in K-12 through Distance and Blended Learning

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Lisa Cluxton Jones on July 29, 2013

Learning management systems: coupled simulations and assessments in a digital systems course

Purpose – The content, provided in learning management systems (LMS), is often text oriented as in a usual textbook, extended by some animations and links. Hands on activities and experiments are not possible. The paper aims to give an overview about the concept to couple smart simulation and assessment tools with an LMS to provide a more explorative approach to the learning content. Design/methodology/approach – Interactive components, such as smart design tools and online laboratories are added to an LMS that allow exploring the learned content additionally to text parts interactively. The objective of this teaching concept is to empower the students to solve complex design tasks for digital systems and to validate the results. This requires on the one hand site knowledge about the mathematical background of the algorithms used by design tools, and on the other hand, experience from as much as possible examples. Commercial tools are too complex for teaching purposes and hide mostly the algorithms they use for the several design steps. That is why we have developed smart special tailored tools for each single design step that should be learned during a lesson. Findings – These smart tools are very useful to support the process of understanding and learning by doing. Learners can explore the several design steps with own examples and get immediately feedback about the correct solutions. Practical implications – The connection to an LMS allows us to record all students’ relevant actions in the design process and to evaluate the student or to give individual tailored hints. Originality/value – The paper introduces a new teaching concept that allows exploring the learned content interactively additionally to text parts

Digital communities: context for leading learning into the future?

In 2011, a robust, on-campus, three-element Community of Practice model consisting of growing community, sharing of practice and building domain knowledge was piloted in a digital learning environment. An interim evaluation of the pilot study revealed that the three-element framework, when used in a digital environment, required a fourth element. This element, which appears to happen incidentally in the face-to-face context, is that of reflecting, reporting and revising. This paper outlines the extension of the pilot study to the national tertiary education context in order to explore the implications for the design, leadership roles, and selection of appropriate technologies to support and sustain digital communities using the four-element model

The Digital Revolution in Higher Education: Transforming Teaching and Learning

Digital transformation in higher education has greatly disrupted conventional teaching and learning models. This review traces the evolution of educational technology over the past few decades. It analyzes how tools such as learning management systems, data analytics, online learning, and artificial intelligence impact pedagogy, student experience, educator roles, and institutional learning. The great potential of technology to enhance learning is also discussed, along with the ongoing challenges of justice, ethics, and human relations in its application. Current and emerging technologies are examined, with their implications for key stakeholders. This study uses a multi-faceted methodology to investigate digital transformation in higher education: Historical Analysis, Technology Review Case Studies, Stakeholder Surveys, and Ethical and Social Implications. Predictive modeling and trend analysis are performed to project higher education's future digital transformation trajectory. This includes analysis of new technologies, potential disruptions, and the evolving needs of the education sector. The review brings together insights from academic literature, industry publications, and the digital transformation of higher education over the past few decades, which has been widespread and measurable.  Early adopters of technologies such as analytics, AI, and immersive media will be best positioned to improve the student experience in the future. However, carefully applying and considering students' needs and equality is essential to avoid marginalized groups

Mazetec: A Scenario-Based Learning Platform

This work presents Mazetec, a scenario-based learning platform for delivering non-linear scenarios format asynchronously. It enables subject matter experts to create interactive, state-dependent case studies or courses with branching logic for online learning and knowledge testing. Mazetec is a complex web application designed to deliver decision-based or case-based educational scenarios and simulations in a time-limited, non-linear format. There are many e-learning systems in the open source and commercial markets, but while these systems may have similar functions, we have found none that are both domain independent and able to deliver state-dependent content asynchronous and non-linearly. Mazetec can serve as a standalone training system or serve as a supplementary activity provider to an existing course in an organization\u27s existing learning management system (LMS)