Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

Learning Design, Social Ontology and Unintended Functionalism in Education Projects

For many years there have been well-funded project opportunities for developing educational innovations, both pedagogical and technological, to fulfil the educational ambitions of national governments and European agencies. Projects have been funded on the basis of competitive bidding against themes identified by funders. Calls for funding typically exhibit bold rhetoric as to their ambition and […]

Effects of Web-Based Collaborative Writing on Individual L2 Writing Development

This study investigated the effect of repeated in-class web-based collaborative writing tasks on second language writers’ (L2) individual writing scores. A pre-test post-test research model was used in addition to participant surveys, class observations, and teacher interviews. Participants included 59 L2 writers in a writing class at a large U.S. university. The 32 participants in […]

Becoming Little Scientists: Technologically-Enhanced Project-Based Language Learning

This article outlines research into innovative language teaching practices that make optimal use of technology and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) for an integrated approach to Project-Based Learning. It is based on data compiled during a 10- week language project that employed videoconferencing and machinima (short video clips featuring virtual world avatars) to introduce young language learners […]

Twitter as a Learning Community in Higher Education

Considering the potential and popularity of social media it is important to inquire into its use in learning. In this study the implementation of the activity carried out in Twitter with higher education students was analysed. The research was conducted following a mixed methodology, based on virtual ethnography complemented by quantitative analysis of the tweets […]

Measuring User Experience of the Student-Centered e-Learning Environment

The aim of the current study is to develop an adapted version of User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) and evaluate a learning management system. Although there is a growing interest on User Experience, there are still limited resources (i.e. measurement tools or questionnaires) available to measure user experience of any products, especially learning management systems. Two […]

Instructing the Instructors: Training Instructors to Use Social Presence Cues in Online Courses

Online learning has become an ever-evolving opportunity for students in all stages of life to achieve their educational goals while also participating in all of the other aspects of their lives. With all of the changes in online learning in the last decade, it is unfortunate that many online instructors have been left behind (Lackey, […]

How do you Implement a Digital Environment to Support a Training Group?

This case deals with an instructional designer (ID) working at a European university who has been asked to convert an existing on-campus program for working professionals to online delivery. This case took place over a period of several months and led to the development of an online training program. The program was designed to facilitate […]

Course Design and Delivery Specifications as a Tool for Ensuring Quality in an Online Training Program

This case discusses the design, implementation, and regulation of a hybrid training program (60 credits over two years) organised by three business schools in Europe, and stretching over a five-year period. Following an incremental design process, the design team faced multiple challenges, from finding the added value of hybridization to choosing the technological environment that […]

Students’ perspectives on e-portfolio development and implementation: A case study in Taiwanese higher education

This study explores students’ perceptions related to the implementation of e-portfolios in the context of Taiwanese higher education. Thirty Taiwanese university students were interviewed, and data analysis includes 14 interviewees’ e-portfolios and responses to 281 valid surveys from non-interviewed students. The study presents students’ perspectives using textual descriptions and visual presentations related to developing e-portfolios. […]

A student-constructed test learning system: The design, development and evaluation of its pedagogical potential

Although research has found that student-constructed tests (SCT) have some potential for promoting cognitive elaboration, as yet there are no systems available to support the associated activities. This study designed and developed an SCT learning system guided by the ideology of contribution-based pedagogies, accentuating the principles of adaptability and flexibility. To assess its learning potential, […]