A New Interactive Method to Distance English Learning in Conceptual Age

Latest advance in information technology and innovative teaching confronts DEL (distance English learning) with new challenges and problems. According to the DEL analysis, the paper firstly presents cloud service’s functions to the support service, which serves to distribute and store quality learning resources. Meanwhile, practice-focused conceptual learning is advocated, which inspires distance learners’ autonomy, initiative and subjectivity to the greatest degree. Then the paper discusses designing principles and orientations of conceptual learning for DEL based on cloud service. Finally, by presenting several successful DEL experiences, the paper puts forward new teaching methods and advocates students’ multi-dimensional learning experiences

The effects of integrating mobile devices with teaching and learning on students' learning performance: A meta-analysis and research synthesis

AbstractMobile devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants, and mobile phones have become a learning tool with great potential in both classrooms and outdoor learning. Although there have been qualitative analyses of the use of mobile devices in education, systematic quantitative analyses of the effects of mobile-integrated education are lacking. This study performed a meta-analysis and research synthesis of the effects of integrated mobile devices in teaching and learning, in which 110 experimental and quasiexperimental journal articles published during the period 1993–2013 were coded and analyzed. Overall, there was a moderate mean effect size of 0.523 for the application of mobile devices to education. The effect sizes of moderator variables were analyzed and the advantages and disadvantages of mobile learning in different levels of moderator variables were synthesized based on content analyses of individual studies. The results of this study and their implications for both research and practice are discussed

Learning cultures on the move: where are we heading?

The paper analyzes the globally recognized cultural move towards a more learner-centred education and discusses the implications for the adoption of mobile technologies and design for learning. Current expectations vis-à-vis learner attributes, skills and competences are explored. The pervasiveness of mobile technologies is precipitating these developments, whilst also generating a distinct mobile culture where learners take mobility and context-awareness as starting points and become more visible as innovators, creators and producers. Language learning, one of the most popular application areas of mobile learning, provides fertile ground for the growth of this phenomenon. The paper reviews several innovative language learning applications and concludes by indicating the directions in which we are heading

Integrating Technology With Student-Centered Learning

Reviews research on technology's role in personalizing learning, its integration into curriculum-based and school- or district-wide initiatives, and the potential of emerging digital technologies to expand student-centered learning. Outlines implications

An International Study in Competency Education: Postcards from Abroad

Acknowledging that national borders need not constrain our thinking, we have examined a selection of alternative academic cultures and, in some cases, specific schools, in search of solutions to common challenges we face when we consider reorganizing American schools. A wide range of interviews and e-mail exchanges with international researchers, government officials and school principals has informed this research, which was supplemented with a literature review scanning international reports and journal articles. Providing a comprehensive global inventory of competency-based education is not within the scope of this study, but we are confident that this is a representative sampling. The report that follows first reviews the definition of competency-based learning. A brief lesson in the international vocabulary of competency education is followed by a review of global trends that complement our own efforts to improve performance and increase equitable outcomes. Next, we share an overview of competency education against a backdrop of global education trends (as seen in the international PISA exams), before embarking on an abbreviated world tour. We pause in Finland, British Columbia (Canada), New Zealand and Scotland, with interludes in Sweden, England, Singapore and Shanghai, all of which have embraced practices that can inform the further development of competency education in the United States

Goal-Driven Process Navigation for Individualized Learning Activities in Ubiquitous Networking and IoT Environments

Abstract: In the study, we propose an integrated adaptive framework to support and facilitate individualized learning through sharing the successful process of learning activities based on similar learning patterns in the ubiquitous learning environments empowered by Internet of Things (IoT). This framework is based on a dynamic Bayesian network that gradually adapts to a target student's needs and information access behaviours. By analysing the log data of learning activities and extracting students' learning patterns, our analysis results show that most of students often use their preferred learning patterns in their learning activities, and the learning achievement is affected by the learning process. Based on these findings, we try to optimise the process of learning activities using the extracted learning patterns, infer the learning goal of target students, and provide a goal-driven navigation of individualized learning process according to the similarity of the extracted learning patterns

Future trends and research issues of technology-enhanced language learning: A technological perspective

With recent advancements in information technologies and language learning models, rapid innovations of technology-enhanced language learning have been widely witnessed by research communities and educational institutions globally. Powerful new technologies, such as social media and networks, mobile applications, wearable computing, cloud computing, and virtual reality have been integrated into language learning to facilitate various aspects, such as interactivity, immediacy, and authenticity. In this study, we present the Future TELL Model considering learning objectives, theories, and strategies by briefly reviewing recent progresses in this area. Future trends and research issues in technology-enhanced language learning are also discussed in relation to cutting-edge technologies, such as deep neural networks, which have not yet been fully recognized by education technology communities

Teacher competence development – a European perspective

This chapter provides an European perspectives on teacher competence development