The power of the crowd: promise and potential of crowdsourcing for education

Crowdsourcing is the term often used for processes of data collation and creation where individuals or groups of users who are not necessarily located centrally generate content that is then shared. While the term originates within the world of business, it has since gained traction within a number of academic and professional disciplines. Drawing upon two examples that have originated within the Republic of Ireland, this paper reflects on the educational potential of crowdsourcing. Firstly, it reports a unique one-year open crowdsourcing initiative which compiled a comprehensive A-Z directory of edtech tools for teaching and learning through collaborative contributions. Secondly, it describes an initiative to develop a crowdsourced repository of study tips and suggestions for adult, part-time, online and flexible learners embarking on further study. These two case studies provide a valuable context for considering the wider potential of crowdsourcing applications for teaching and learning purposes

Student response systems in initial teacher education: a scoping review of web-based applications

The use of digital technologies in programs of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) is now well established, both for purposes of teaching, learning, and assessment of students within ITE programs, and so that student-teachers may themselves learn to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in their own teaching. This chapter undertakes a scoping review of the use of one particular form of digital technology in ITE: Student Response Systems (SRSs). It systematically selects and reviews 19 studies retrieved from a rigorous search of academic journals across a 10-year timespan (2011–2021), with a focus on web-based SRS applications. The review considers a number of factors with regard to the use of these SRS in ITE, including what systems are in use and the terminology used to describe these, the ITE subjects and ITE levels they are being used with, the research objectives guiding investigations of SRS usage within ITE, the research methods and approaches used to pursue these objectives, and the reported advantages and benefits, as well as challenges and limitations, of using these systems in ITE settings. It concludes by identifying a number of research gaps relating to Student Response Systems in Initial Teacher Education and recommendations for further research

Computational thinking and online learning: A systematic literature review

This paper introduces research concerned with investigating how Computational Thinking and online learning can be successfully married to help empower secondary teachers to teach this subject. To aid this research, a systematic literature review was undertaken to investigate what is currently known in the academic literature on where Computational Thinking and online learning intersect. This paper presents the findings of this systematic literature review. It outlines the methodology used and presents the current data available in the literature on how Computational Thinking is taught online. Using a systematic process eight hundred articles were initially identified and then subsequently narrowed down to forty papers. These papers were analysed to answer the following two questions: 1. What are the current pedagogical approaches to teaching Computational Thinking online? 2. What were the categories of online learning observed in the teaching of Computational Thinking? Our findings show that a wide range of pedagogical approaches are used to teach Computational Thinking online, with the constructivist theory of learning being the most popular. The tools used to teach Computational Thinking were also varied, video game design, playing video games, competitions, and unplugged activities, to name a few. A significant finding was the dependency between the tool used and the definition of the term Computational Thinking. Computational Thinking lacks consensus on a definition, and thus the definition stated in the literature changed depending on the tool. By considering a significant body of research up to the present, our findings contribute to teachers, researchers and policy makers understanding of how computational thinking may be taught online at second level

VLEs: A metaphorical history from sharks to limpets

In this paper we chart the history of selected metaphors that have been used to describe Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) over the last 15 years. Martin Weller famously claimed in 2007 that “the VLE is dead”. This provocation positioned the VLE as an object of history, forcing us to consider its past, present and future. This notion of historical mapping is important as many educational technologies that failed to deliver on their promises can be easily forgotten. Hence, we sought to develop a short history of VLE metaphors. Using a defined search and selection strategy we selected 30 metaphors spanning a 15-year period from 2004 to 2019 derived from a variety of sources ranging from social media to scholarly publications. We first arranged the metaphors according to a chronological timeline. Next we sought to unpack their significance by thematically analysing them using the notion of metaphorical concepts. Through this thematic analysis, six organizing metaphorical concepts were generated: Straitjacket, Behemoth, Digital Carpark, Safe Space, Smorgasbord and Pathfinder. We then used these metaphorical concepts as a lens, to map and explore historical developments and debates over the past two decades of educational technology. As the world scrambles to go online during the COVID-19 pandemic there has never been a more important time to remember and reflect upon digital learning history. Through this work we contribute to the history of educational technology by remembering its metaphors and what they have taught us. After we had navigated these historical seas, we noticed that the VLE was still here, as a limpet resolutely awaiting the next wave

Chatbots and Citations: An Experiment in Academic Writing with Generative AI

The world of Educational Technology is no stranger to tales and predictions about the Next Big Thing, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) being the current title holder. This paper documents the process and experiences of the authors in undertaking a challenge to “go all in” with AI (in this case, ChatGPT-3.5) to generate academic material pertaining to their professional context, and to reflect upon the endeavour and the possible broader implications arising from this. We found that, on balance, the AI engine generated a credible base content for our chosen topic, and proved particularly useful for some aspects of the writing process (such as formulating bibliographical references and suggested titles). The experiment deepened our understanding of the potentials and pitfalls of using Artificial Intelligence in the academic writing process, and of the need to stay abreast of this rapidly evolving field

‘The Pandemic Will Not be on Zoom’: A Retrospective from the Year 2050

This paper aims to interpret, analyse, and critique educational pasts, presents, and futures. It is framed by potentially falsifiable memories of colonization and struggles for identity and social justice. We adopt the device of social science fiction (Gerlach and Hamilton 2003) as a specialist genre of speculative fiction (Graham et al. 2019). Such speculative approaches seek to develop provocations rather than predictions (Selwyn et al. 2020) and to implicate their readers rather than to inculcate them. In this tradition, we seek to ponder possibilities of post-pandemic educational futurities. Our work centres on the ramblings of an unknown scholar who, on the cusp of a postscientific world, screams a maddened poem into the void titled ‘The Pandemic will not be on Zoom’. The events surrounding this poem are pieced together to reveal a world of stark inequities and digital and biological fractures. These fractures prefigured a bleak colonization of humankind by a deepmind hive Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Fig. 1) that caused us to become forever isolated from ourselves and that brought an end to the grand projects of science and education. In our conclusion, we call for other historians of futures past to help uncover timelines, and write alternative fictions, that promote pedagogies of hope, care, justice, and a brighter day

Being and Belonging: Student-Teachers’ Contextual Engagement in Schools

While School Placement is long established as a central component of Initial Teacher Education programmes, there is an increasing awareness that these placement experiences should go beyond the practical activities most directly associated with teaching. This paper considers how engagement in a school placement period with a focus on non-teaching activities contributes to the professional and personal development of student-teachers, and to their sense of ‘belonging’ while on placement. Drawing primarily on the analysis of data obtained from online logs maintained by student-teachers during this predominantly non-teaching placement, it establishes the activities that they engaged in, and their reflections and opinions about the value of these experiences and this practicum placement. Findings include an increased sense of belonging to the school community, greater confidence and a stronger sense of identity as teacher

A strategic response to MOOCs: how one European university is approaching the challenge

This paper briefly outlines some of the macro level claims, counter-claims, and unresolved debates surrounding the rapid growth of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Higher Education. It then reports insights, experiences, and perceptions of those charged with developing a strategic institutional response to the challenges and opportunities presented by the MOOC movement framed within a wider European context. A description of the key drivers, strategic deliberations, and major decision points in micro-level MOOC related discussions at Dublin City University (DCU) is provided along with brief analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of a range of platform options. In critically reflecting on the burgeoning MOOC literature in the context of this single institution experience, the paper aims to demonstrate the value of aligning key decisions with well-defined institutional drivers, which in turn are used to help review and evaluate the technical and pedagogical affordances of different MOOC platforms. Finally, a number of strategic questions are presented that may help guide future decisions about the adoption of MOOCs by other institutions

ADAPTTER: Developing a framework for teaching computational thinking in second‑level schools by design research

Computational Thinking (CT) is a problem-solving process applicable across all disciplines. It has been defined as a 21st-century skill (Wing, Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33–35, 2006). Unfortunately, little pedagogical research is available to guide teachers and designers when devising a CT course. This study addresses this issue by describing how a framework to teach CT to second-level students evolved. This framework, ADAPTTER, has been shown to result in a high quality, engaging, low threshold, effective, and practical course. A three-phase Educational Design Research study was employed to develop this framework. It involved six schools, eleven teachers, four content experts, and 446 students. Data was gathered using various means: teacher interviews and diaries, students' questionnaires, artefacts, and tests. The ADAPTTER framework is offered as a way for teachers and researchers to design a CT course, understand its components and have conversations around the same

The Role of the Teacher as Assessor: Developing Student Teacher’s Assessment Identity.

The closure of schools across the globe due to the Covid-19 pandemic had the potential to have a catastrophic impact on a fundamental pillar of initial teacher education: school placement. This paper maps a new “site” of professional practice for “school placement” called “Teacher Online Programme” (TOP) using Xu and Brown’s (2016) conceptual framework of teacher assessment literacy in practice. Its main focus lies in the integration of the assessment baseline knowledge into the programme under the seven elements proposed by the framework. A case study methodology informed the approach taken. Data was collected and analysed in three phases: the Teaching Online Programme Year 3 (TOP3) initiative; Student-teacher and Tutor Questionnaires and Student-teacher and Tutor focus group interviews. The findings highlight the complex and multifaceted process of building teacher assessment identity which nests in the larger purposes for education. They encourage an emergentist and collaborative approach to assessment knowledge and view working in communities of practice as a threshold for creativity and innovation