Archive for the ‘Theory Development’ Category

Student Perceptions of Open Pedagogy: An Exploratory Study

With the increasing development and adoption of Open Educational Resources, many researchers and practitioners are interested in more carefully examining pedagogies connected with their use. This study describes the perceptions of 173 students of implementations of various approaches to open pedagogy by nineteen instructors in post-secondary institutions in New Hampshire. Students were asked about their […]

Facilitating Student Engagement Through Educational Technology: Towards a Conceptual Framework

The concept of student engagement has become somewhat of an enigma for educators and researchers, with ongoing discussions about its nature and complexity, and criticism about the depth and breadth of theorising and operationalisation within empirical research. This equally applies to research conducted in the field of educational technology and its application in schools and […]

The conceptualisation of cognitive tools in learning and teachnology: A review

The term cognitive tool has been used in many areas of academic specialisation, where it has taken on multiple connotations. In this historical and systematic review, we investigate the conceptualisation of cognitive tools in the learning sciences and educational technology. First, the theory of cognitive tools vis-à-vis learning and development is traced from Vygotsky and […]

Revisiting cognitive tools from a social and motivational perspective

The concept of computers as cognitive tools has been revisited to provide insight into the motivational and social dimension in light of the emerging technologies. Central to this concept are the two opposing philosophical views: learning from technology (amplification view of technology) versus learning with technology (constructivist view of technology). A literature review is provided […]

Learning with computers: Generating insights into the development of cognitive tools using cultural historical activity theory

Using computers as cognitive tools or mindtools has created impact in education since their introduction in the 1990s. One main characteristic is the notion of learning with computers as intellectual partners: engaging learners in higher level thinking while taking away the lower level cognitive load such as computing and digital storage. In recent years, the […]

Educational Network Projects as Form of E-Learning

In the transition to digital technologies, the pedagogical community needs a fundamentally different methodological basis of education, it is necessary to radically update the goals, content, forms, methods and means of education, taking into account the flow of information and communication processes in which modern youth grows. The article notes a number of positive and […]

(Re)Tracing the Everyday ‘Sitings’: A Conceptual Review of Internet Research 15 Years Later

In 2003, Kevin Leander and Kelly McKim made the argument for connecting scholarship on physical spaces with that of online spaces. They named this fusion of scholarly areas connective ethnography, termed by Christine Hine (2000, as cited in Leander & McKim, 2003). At that time, they asked: “How might we develop research practices and frameworks […]

Empowering academics to be adaptive with eLearning technologies: An exploratory case study

This paper describes an exploratory case study investigating the capacity of a multidisciplinary approach to academic development, to empower adaptive responses to ongoing technological change impacting on teaching practice. A quasi-experimental design with an intervention group (n = 22) and a comparative control group (n = 7) was adopted. Pre and post online questionnaires were […]

Distance Education: A Review of Literature [Circa 1994]

This document provides an overview of the current literature on distance education. A historical perspective and definitions associated with distance education are presented in the first section. The following theories are also discussed: independence and autonomy; industrialization of teaching; and interaction and communication. A synthesis of existing theories and a theoretical framework for distance education […]

Using connectivism theory and technology for knowledge creation in cross-cultural communication

This study examined the significance of connectivism theory and technology for knowledge creation in cross-cultural communication. The findings rely on the exercise designed and conducted by the facilitators of two different institutions/universities based in two different countries. This exercise was conducted for two intercultural management classes in New Delhi, India and Graz, Austria. This article […]