How can exploratory learning with games and simulations within the curriculum be most effectively evaluated?

There have been few attempts to introduce frameworks that can help support tutors evaluate educational games and simulations that can be most effective in their particular learning context and subject area. The lack of a dedicated framework has produced a significant impediment for uptake of games and simulations particularly in formal learning contexts. This paper aims to address this shortcoming by introducing a four-dimensional framework for helping tutors to evaluate the potential of using games- and simulation- based learning in their practice, and to support more critical approaches to this form of games and simulations. The four-dimensional framework is applied to two examples from practice to test its efficacy and structure critical reflection upon practice

Becta review 2006. Evidence on the progress of ICT in education.

This is the review of the use and impact of ICT in the education system prior to the publication of the Government's e-Strategy for the education system, known as Harnessing Technology. The Review drew upon Becta's surveys of schools and FE colleges as well as other research to assess the impact of technology within the education system and the progress made in achieving Government policies in 2005-06

Context at the Crossroads of Language Learning and Mobile Learning

Contextual learning is the next step in the development of pedagogy in relation to mobile and ubiquitous technologies. The question addressed in this paper is whether research on 'context' within second language learning, and in the language sciences more broadly, can inform the development of the notion of context in research on technology-enhanced learning and mobile learning. As researchers in mobile assisted language learning, we stand at the crossroads of these disciplines. In this paper, we indicate the main sources and research directions that inform our work; we share our observations and propose some tentative conclusions

Innovating Pedagogy 2015: Open University Innovation Report 4

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This fourth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International. We proposed a long list of new educational terms, theories, and practices. We then pared these down to ten that have the potential to provoke major shifts in educational practice, particularly in post-school education. Lastly, we drew on published and unpublished writings to compile the ten sketches of new pedagogies that might transform education. These are summarised below in an approximate order of immediacy and timescale to widespread implementation

Validation of Serious Games Attributes Using the Technology Acceptance Model

The paper introduces a conceptual model for the design of serious games and uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) for its validation. A specially developed game introduced international students to public transport in Southampton. After completing the game, participants completed a short questionnaire and the data was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results identified the attributes and combinations of attributes that led the learner to accept and to use the serious game for learning. These findings are relevant in helping game designers and educational practitioners design serious games for effective learning

MILO: Models of innovation in learning online at Key Stage 3 and 14-19: Final report

The report presents and analyses eight case studies, which reflect a wide range of models of online learning, each of which has been developed for specific reasons, largely in relation to visions of how technology can transform learning, but also to solve practical problems such as re-engaging disaffected learners and coping with rising pupil numbers

An Open Future for Higher Education

As the world becomes more open, universities have the opportunity to embrace openness in how they carry out their operations, teaching, and research. Open educational resources can provide the catalyst for different forms of learning, linking formal and informal aspects and splitting up the functions of content, support, assessment, and accreditation. Models from research suggest that an open approach is likely to encourage the crossing of boundaries between inside and outside the classroom, games and tools for learning, and the amateur and the expert. A new attitude toward research and scholarship is needed to work with the data of openness and to use it as an approach to gather evidence, share thoughts, and disseminate results