A literature synthesis of personalised technology-enhanced learning: what works and why

Personalised learning, having seen both surges and declines in popularity over the past few decades, is once again enjoying a resurgence. Examples include digital resources tailored to a particular learner’s needs, or individual feedback on a student’s assessed work. In addition, personalised technology-enhanced learning (TEL) now seems to be attracting interest from philanthropists and venture capitalists indicating a new level of enthusiasm for the area and a potential growth industry. However, these industries may be driven by profit rather than pedagogy, and hence it is vital these new developments are informed by relevant, evidence-based research. For many people, personalised learning is an ambiguous and even loaded term that promises much but does not always deliver. This paper provides an in-depth and critical review and synthesis of how personalisation has been represented in the literature since 2000, with a particular focus on TEL. We examine the reasons why personalised learning can be beneficial and examine how TEL can contribute to this. We also unpack how personalisation can contribute to more effective learning. Lastly, we examine the limitations of personalised learning and discuss the potential impacts on wider stakeholders

Teacher Professional Development through Blogging: Some Preliminary Findings

AbstractThe emerging trend of the use of innovative technologies to support teachers’ teaching and learning is indicative of the increasing dominance of technology in educational environments. One aspect of the use of technology is the developing online technologies where teachers are in an online interactive platform to share knowledge on their teaching practice. Blog is one of the online interactive platforms, commonly used by teachers to interact with their peers which not only makes them cognizant of the usefulness of technology but also helps them to learn how to integrate the technology to support teaching. Utilizing the theory of community of practice and through observing blog activities of teachers, this paper attempts to present some preliminary findings to show that teachers’ sharing of their practices within the communities facilitates collaboration and sharing of knowledge that benefits both the teachers and their students. It is based on a study involving 7 Iranian EFL teachers who shared their experiences and knowledge within the community through blogging for one semester. The initial findings suggest that blogging has a positive effect on teacher learning within a community of practice

Changes in Cost Incurred by Indonesian Teachers for Online Training during Covid-19 Pandemic

Due to Covid-19 transmission, the educational facilities in Indonesia were closed and teachers had to work from home (WFH). It caused face-to-face learning turn into online learning and online training. This study aimed to identify costs incurred by Indonesian teachers for online training during the Covid-19 pandemic. Data collection was carried out by distributing online questionnaires in Google forms to all teachers participating in the online training. Incoming responses were analyzed using SPSS version 26. The results explained that by having self- isolation at home, teachers used their free time to attend online learning. However, they had to pay extra to buy good internet services to properly attend the training. Before the Covid-19 transmission period, the highest internet cost per month was IDR 0-100,000. While during the Covid-19 pandemic, the highest internet expense per month was IDR 100,000-200,000. It was described by the number of respondents who reached 306 respondents (33.85%)

Models of content analysis in virtual communication

Este artículo contiene una revisión de literatura sobre los modelos utilizados en la educación virtual para el análisis del contenido de las comunicaciones. Se examinan los aspectos teóricos y metodológicos, los antecedentes en que se basan y las modificaciones realizadas por investigadores relevantes en el campo. Analizar la comunicación virtual es útil para los actores del proceso educativo sin limitación de distancia y tiempo, en entornos integrados por tutores, enseñantes y estudiantes que interaccionan en una nueva modalidad con características propias. Describir los modelos de comunicación mediada por ordenador aporta una información valiosa para ampliar el conocimiento científico, con pretensiones de sistematizar las líneas de investigación que se están desarrollando actualmente y, como consecuencia, de repercusión sobre la comunidad investigadora.This article contains a review of literature on the models used in virtual education for the analysis of the content of communications. It examines the theoretical and methodological background underlying and relevant amendments made by researchers in the field. Describe virtual communication is useful for education stakeholders without limitation of distance and time, in environments integrated by tutors, teachers and students to interact in a new modality with its own characteristics. Systematize models computer-mediated communication provides valuable information to further scientific knowledge, with pretensions to systematize the research currently being developed and, therefore, of impact on the research community

Internal structure of virtual communications in communities of inquiry in higher education: Phases, evolution and participants’ satisfaction

This study investigates the phases of development of synchronous and asynchronous virtual communication produced in a community of inquiry (CoI) by analyzing the internal structure of each intervention in the forum and each chat session to determine the evolution of their social, cognitive and teaching character. It also analyzes the participating higher education students’ satisfaction with the activities, with the professors’ actions, and with themselves. We use a mixed methodology that includes content analysis of the virtual communications by crossing two categorization systems: (1) type of communication according to the model adopted from Garrison, Anderson and Archer (social, cognitive and teaching presence) and (2) phases in the evolution of the communication (initiation, proposal, development, opinion/closing and good-byes). The data are relevant to the students’ satisfaction and grades earned. The results suggest differences in the quantity and content of the communication in each phase and an evolution from social to cognitive elements, ending with social contributions. The students are satisfied with the virtual communications related to both the activities and the professors and evaluate themselves positively

Informed design of educational technology for teaching and learning? Towards an evidence-informed model of good practice

The aim of this paper is to model evidence-informed design based on a selective critical analysis of research articles. We draw upon findings from an investigation into practitioners’ use of educational technologies to synthesise and model what informs their designs. We found that practitioners’ designs were often driven by implicit assumptions about learning. These shaped both the design of interventions and the methods sought to derive evaluations and interpret the findings. We argue that interventions need to be grounded in better and explicit conceptualisations of what constitutes learning in order to have well-informed designs that focus on improving the quality of student learning

Evaluating Mandarin language students’ online experience during Covid-19: A case study from London

Given the impact of coronavirus, all schools across all sectors public and private, in the United Kingdom closed at the end of March 2020. Closures affected every type of establishment across the UK as well as private language schools. Our case study takes place in London and looks into the student experience in a language Mandarin Chinese school. These language students, as very many across the globe, who attended face-to-face sessions up until that point, have since been studying remotely and joining virtual classrooms via Zoom, one of the multiple video conferencing platforms available. To better evaluate students’ online learning experience of remote learning, this study examines the teacherstudent interactions that take place via online means and the students’ sense of ‘presence’ (i.e., cognitive, social, and teaching presence) in order to evaluate the lessons we can learn from the online learning experience, going forward in terms of teaching and learning. This study also presents how meaningful and worthwhile the experience has been and how the sense of ‘presence’ plays a significant role in the process of online teaching and learning

A review of e-learning technologies – opportunities for teaching and learning

The number of different e-learning technologies available to support teaching and learning is growing exponentially. A major issue for faculty and educational developers in higher education is to determine which e-learning technology is most appropriate to support their particular teaching needs and provide optimum learning opportunities for students. Over the last few years a vast amount of literature has been published on e-learning technologies and how they are used in education Therefore the decision to use a particular technology should be based on sound research and clear evidence. This paper reviews many of these e-learning technologies and provides information regarding their use and the opportunities afforded by them.<br /

The role of feedback and social presence in an online peer coaching program for student teachers

Feedback is essential in any kind of learning. This study focused on feedback in online learning and conceptualized feedback as a social interaction process. Online learning rests on social interaction, which is affected by feelings of social presence. Therefore, we investigated received and perceived online feedback, and the coherence between them. In addition, we studied the influence of social presence on feedback processes. Sixteen Dutch student teachers, who followed a 1 year customized postgraduate teacher education course, engaged in an online peer coaching program using Skype. Data could be collected from 8 different participants and 966 feedback utterances were analysed. In order to determine the quality of this received feedback, an observational instrument was used. In addition, questionnaires were filled in that addressed student teachers’ feedback perceptions and feelings of social presence. Findings showed that participants with higher feedback perceptions received more effective observed feedback than participants with lower perceptions. Feelings of social presence affected perceived and observed feedback, however the social presence items need further validation. This study has practical implications for providing effective online feedback as well as providing a more holistic view on the processes of feedback among teachers