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Due to the lack of life experience and situational experience, it is difficult to arouse pupils' inner motivation and interest in writing. Therefore, the early stage of Chinese writing may be a challenge for Chinese pupils. In order to solve this problem, a spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) experience learning system was developed to help pupils improve their writing performance and interest. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was carried out in a primary school in Zhejiang province, China. First, a writing pretest was administered in two grade 4 classes. The researchers then randomly selected 40 pupils of about 10 years old with similar writing abilities, and assigned them to an experimental group, which used the SVVR learning method, and a control group, which used the traditional learning method. The researchers observed and recorded the pupils' writing process and then, interviewed them. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the comprehensive writing performance of the two groups (F = 6.272; p =.017 <.05). The mean of the experimental group (Mean = 73.85) was higher than that of the control group (Mean = 70.00). Moreover, there were significant differences between the two groups in terms of the thematic coherence, structural integrity and linguistic expressiveness of their writing performance. However, there was no significant difference in the achievement of creative thinking. In the experimental group, different levels of learning behavior engagement could affect the structural integrity and language expression of writing achievements, and the degree of writing learning behavior engagement was highly correlated with reading time. Through the interviews, it was found that the pupils in the experimental group were more satisfied with the SVVR learning method than the control group pupils were with the traditional learning method. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic? Spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) set a simulated environment enabling students to have in‐depth experience in learning contexts.Most SVVR studies focused on speaking and writing in middle schools and colleges, while its impacts on young children's writing performance is generally ignored.What this paper adds? An SVVR system based on experiencing learning theory was developed to promote young students' in‐depth experience and perception in descriptive paper writing.The proposed approach promoted students' writing performances, writing experience and learning behavior engagement.Implications for practice and/or policy SVVR is a potential technology for implementing experiential learning activities, especially in improving thematic coherence, structural integrity and linguistic expressiveness.It is worth promoting such a low‐tech and low‐cost experiential learning approach to other courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to understand the differences in student learning outcomes and classroom behaviour when using the interpersonal computer, personal computer and pen-and-paper to solve arithmetic exercises. In this multi-session experiment, third grade students working on arithmetic exercises from various curricular units were divided into three groups. The first group used personal computers (netbooks), the second group used an interpersonal computer (ie, one projector with a screen, one computer and one mouse per child) and the third group used pen-and-paper. The results of the experiment indicate that all three groups achieved an increase in learning, as shown by the pretest and posttest scores. No significant difference was found between the interpersonal computer and personal computer groups. This suggests that the key characteristic shared by the two groups is the provision of feedback. The format that such feedback takes, either private (through a personal screen) or public (through a shared screen), is shown to make no difference. However, the results significantly favour groups that are provided with instant feedback (interpersonal computer and personal computer) as opposed to delayed feedback (pen-and-paper). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mindfulness practices enhance executive function skills and academic achievement, spurring interest in integrating mindfulness interventions into education. Embedding mindfulness practice into a digital math game may provide a low‐cost, scalable way to induce mindfulness and boost game‐based learning, yet this approach remains unexplored. Objectives: We investigated the learning benefits of integrating mindfulness exercises in a digital math learning game and examined how students' trait mindfulness might moderate the outcomes. Methods: Two classroom studies were conducted with 404 5th and 6th grade students from six public schools in the U.S. (nStudy 1 = 227, nStudy 2 = 177). The two randomized controlled experiments assigned students to one of the three conditions: passive control (playing the digital learning game Decimal Point), story‐enriched active control, or mindfulness‐enriched condition. Trait mindfulness, learning gains, and in‐game problem‐solving (including problem‐solving duration, error count and correctness after reminder) were assessed. Study 2 included a manipulation check to better understand the effects of the mindfulness intervention. Results: Findings showed no significant differences in learning gains, problem‐solving duration or error count among the conditions. Students' trait mindfulness did not moderate these outcomes. Mindfulness reminders in the mindfulness‐enriched game led to more correct answers after errors than jokes in the story‐enriched game. Study 2 revealed that we failed to induce higher state mindfulness through the mindfulness inductions. Conclusions: Mindfulness prompts could be especially beneficial for students experiencing frustration during gameplay, warranting more exploration for digital game‐based instruction. We highlight barriers and future directions for fostering mindfulness through computer‐based instruction in classrooms. Lay Description: What is currently known about this topic?: Researchers focus on digital games as productive learning environments for math, with potential for higher learning gains compared with traditional methods. However, results are mixed, and not all games lead to improved math outcomes.Executive function (EF) skills are crucial for math learning, and mindfulness‐based interventions show promise in enhancing EF skills in school‐aged students.Embedding mindfulness practice into a digital math game may provide a low‐cost, scalable way to induce mindfulness and, in turn, boost EF skills and game‐based learning, yet this approach remains unexplored What does this paper add?: This paper presents the results of two randomized control trials investigating the feasibility and benefits of incorporating mindfulness exercises into a digital math game designed for middle school students. Benefits are compared to those of a story‐enriched and regular version of the same digital math learning game.The paper also explores variations in the effects of the mindfulness‐enriched game based on students' initial trait mindfulness levels.We observe that listening to mindfulness inductions at the beginning of game sessions do not induce mindfulness, and therefore does not benefit math learning.We find that mindfulness prompts received after recurrent errors can be beneficial for students' problem solving. Implications of study findings for practitioners: Our study provides important information on how digital learning game designers should attempt to induce mindfulness in a digital game to promote learning.Digital learning game designers should consider incorporating mindfulness exercises into their games strategically. Presenting mindfulness inductions in audio format at the beginning of game sessions may not induce mindfulness or benefit math learning. Instead, designers should focus on integrating mindfulness prompts at moments when students encounter frustration within the learning game.Beyond embedding audio mindfulness exercises in the game, learning designers should also consider alternative technological and game features to induce mindfulness within a learning game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and development of information and communication technology ( ICT)-supported learning for people with disabilities has not received adequate attention. It is also difficult to access research findings and developments in this field. Under the ENABLE Network of ICT Supported Learning for Disabled People (2011-2014) project, an emerging European Union reference point portal for end-users will provide this information for a broad audience. In the design phase of the project idea, the authors of this paper conducted a review of papers indexed in Web of Science to provide a needs assessment and a design template for the project objectives. The results of the search clearly showed that ICT-supported learning for people with special educational needs is in the domain of the educational technology journals, with more papers published in the British Journal of Educational Technology than in any other journal. This paper presents the results of a content analysis of all papers published from 1970 to 2011 in seven educational technology journals indexed in Web of Science. More papers were published from 2006 to 2011 (44.7%) than during any other of five periods examined. Findings in terms of ICT intervention, disability groups, groups of study participants by relationship with ICT, and research design, together with trends in published studies in terms of mainstreaming and inclusion, are presented. The main objective of the study was to identify the level of inclusion through analysis of educational context (special schools [30.51%], mainstream schools [28.81%] and general support for life [40.68%]). Based on content analysis, ICT interventions were classified into the two categories of technical intervention in the pedagogical context (62.71% of all papers published) and technical intervention in the wider context (37.29% of all papers published), with nine paper types identified: papers on ICT access, papers on teaching and learning methods, papers on development and testing of ICT solutions, reviews, assessments, papers on inclusion, papers on behavioural and social development, papers on use of information technology and papers on interaction. Papers were also categorised according to types of disability and according to groups of study participants by relationship with ICT. Published papers were divided into four categories by research design: descriptive (49.15%), developmental (26.27%), experimental (17.8%), and developmental and experimental (6.78%). During the period from 1970 to 2000, papers examined design of learning materials with regard to particular categories of disability and particular accessibility needs, while papers published after 2000 also discussed universal design. Based on the review, the authors of this paper have identified a need for application of universal design principles in research and development of learning environments to provide equal accessibility and inclusive education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have often demonstrated that educational television can have a positive effect on learning outcomes in low‐income countries when delivered in controlled settings. However, existing research in low‐resource contexts has scarcely considered the association between child outcomes and viewing in usual environments (ie, at their home, a friend's home or a relative's home). This lack of research is striking, as evidence from controlled settings might provide limited information on the effects of normal television exposure. This paper, therefore, investigates the relationship between normal exposure to a popular Tanzania‐produced cartoon, Ubongo Kids and mathematics capability, as represented by plausible values derived from an item response theory model applied to children's test responses. Cross‐sectional investigation of a sample of 38 682 Tanzanian children suggested normal educational television exposure to be significantly associated with mathematics capability, when controlling for age, sex, school enrolment, Kiswahili attainment and household fixed effects. While cross‐sectional results are not necessarily causal, the findings in this paper broadly correspond with those from previous designs using repeated observations. What is more, considering association results alongside cost and viewership estimates suggests television‐based interventions to be highly cost effective. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic National data for Tanzania suggests the country to have both low levels of mathematics proficiency and considerable access to television technology.Educational television‐based interventions might, therefore, be worthy of consideration by educational policymakers, especially given that studies conducted in controlled settings indicate that television can deliver learning benefits.There is, however, little evidence concerning educational television exposure outside of controlled settings. Only one such study in a low‐income context that concerned the association between learning outcomes and viewing among primary‐age children has been identified.What this paper adds This paper addresses this dearth of research by investigating the association between normal exposure to a Tanzanian cartoon, Ubongo Kids and mathematics capability, as derived from an item response theory model applied to the test responses of 38 682 children.Cross‐sectional findings suggest the association between normal television exposure and mathematics capability to be significant.Further, a cost‐effectiveness comparison with alternate interventions in comparable contexts indicates that educational television is highly cost‐effective.Implications for practice and/or policy The findings presented in this paper concerning educational television viewership in usual environments act to triangulate those from prior research conducted in controlled settings. As such, policymakers in low‐income contexts now possess more convincing evidence on the potential influence of educational television interventions.Additionally, the cost‐effectiveness comparison made suggests that educational television should be considered a viable option by policymakers seeking to address learning outcomes with limited resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a critique of papers by Professors Atkins and Karplus on elementary science education. The author indicates the personal biases that she brings to the discussion of the two reports. The article discusses Atkins and Karplus' assumption that the modern world demands a citizenry that is literate with respect to both concepts and the methods of science. The author comments on Atkins and Karplus' recognition that children differ widely both in their abilities to grasp ideas and in the ways they arrive at conclusions.

The present study assessed the effectiveness of the ECRIMO educational application designed to build first‐grade level spelling skills. We tested whether using the app to teach spelling would be as effective as providing the same training using traditional paper exercises. The effect of integrating gamification into mobile learning apps, which has been little studied in the context of young children, is also investigated. A pretest/training/posttest design was implemented with 311 first‐graders divided in four groups: no training, paper training, the ECRIMO app with gamification features, and the ECRIMO app without gamification. Spelling, reading and phonological awareness abilities was measured at both pretest and posttest. The training was conducted over a 7‐week period (4.40 hours in total). The experimental design allowed us to answer three questions: (1) Is spelling training effective regardless of the medium used? (2) Is training through the app as efficient as paper‐based training? (3) Does gamification impact students' learning performance? Mixed‐model analyses revealed (1) a positive effect on the training outcome depended on the initial spelling ability of participants, (2) a comparable efficiency between autonomous training using the ECRIMO app on tablets and the same training provided by teachers using paper exercises and (3) a marginally positive effect of gamification that is greater for the weakest students. The present study proposes an original and pertinent experimental design to test the relevance of educational applications. The design features of learning apps can impact students' learning differently depending on their initial level. A critical step should be verifying that using online apps for training is at least as effective as the same training using paper exercises. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic A significant number of children experience difficulties in reading and spelling from the first years of learning.The use of new technologies to support classroom teaching is rapidly developing as a topic of interest for educational professionals and researchers.Evaluations of new technologies developed to enhance literacy skills suggest that many factors can vary their effectiveness.The effectiveness of a digital educational application can be enhanced or undermined by design choices, such as gamification.What this paper adds Spelling training with the app ECRIMO seems effective for first year students, especially those with the lowest and middle level.Comparable effects of both the tablet‐based and paper equivalent training on participants' spelling were found.The use of gamification in ECRIMO could be more suitable for the weakest students.Implications for practice and/or policy Educational technologies should be evidence‐based and should be evaluated with both a passive and an active control group.The design should be carefully considered and tested, as it may be advantageous for some students and disadvantageous for others.The use of digital technology in education can be beneficial for classroom practice, when the activity can be carried out in total autonomy, leaving the teacher available for a group of pupils with specific needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparing data‐literate citizens and supporting future generations to effectively work with data is challenging. Engaging students in Knowledge Building (KB) may be a promising way to respond to this challenge because it requires students to reflect on and direct their inquiry with the support of data. Informed by previous studies, this research explored how an analytics‐supported reflective assessment (AsRA)‐enhanced KB design influenced 6th graders' KB and data science practices in a science education setting. One intact class with 56 students participated in this study. The analysis of students' Knowledge Forum discourse showed the positive influences of the AsRA‐enhanced KB design on students' development of KB and data science practices. Further analysis of different‐performing groups revealed that the AsRA‐enhanced KB design was accessible to all performing groups. These findings have important implications for teachers and researchers who aim to develop students' KB and data science practices, and general high‐level collaborative inquiry skills. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Data use becomes increasingly important in the K‐12 educational context.Little is known about how to scaffold students to develop data science practices.Knowledge Building (KB) and learning analytics‐supported reflective assessment (AsRA) show premises in developing these practices.What this paper adds AsRA‐enhanced KB can help students improve KB and data science practices over time.AsRA‐enhanced KB design benefits students of different‐performing groups.AsRA‐enhanced KB is accessible to elementary school students in science education.Implications for practice and/or policy Developing a collaborative and reflective culture helps students engage in collaborative inquiry.Pedagogical approaches and analytic tools can be developed to support students' data‐driven decision‐making in inquiry learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opportunities for children to be involved in the decisions made about them is a part of current statutory educational legislation. Person‐centred planning (PCP) has been proposed as an appropriate method of meeting statutory requirements. However, there is a dearth of research into its application within education. The paper describes a systematic literature review of current research into PCP within education for pupils with SEMH and the associated outcomes. PCP appears to be an effective way of engaging children, young people and their families but research within education is currently limited and methodologically weak. More rigorous research is needed into PCP and its effectiveness and should include the use of standardised and/or observable measures, more varied ranges of contexts and participants, and longitudinal and child‐led designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of immersive virtual field trips (VFTs) with head‐mounted displays (HMDs) on the presence and perceived learning. A mixed‐method approach was used to obtain an overall understanding of students' experiences with this immersive technology in an elementary classroom. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 27 elementary‐school students through presence surveys and reflection papers. Statistical analyses were performed to compare immersive VFTs with traditional VFTs regarding students' virtual presence. Further, an inductive content analysis was performed to analyze reflection papers. The results showed an overall enhancement in virtual presence with the use of immersive VFTs. However, students felt that learning was not favorable with HMDs. The result of this study provides practical implications for the use of immersive VFTs in classroom settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ways Indigenous Mexican educators navigate paradoxical institutional and community discourses around Indigenous language and cultural reclamation as negotiated forms of survivance and decolonial thinking in and around schools. Using ethnographic and Indigenous methodologies, we focus on the experiences of elementary education teachers from the states of Oaxaca and Puebla to highlight the sophisticated ways Indigenous educators figure ideological and implementational spaces of Indigenous persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Number line accuracy (NL accuracy) shows improvement over the course of a school education. However, there are practically no cross‐country longitudinal studies of NL accuracy over the whole course of elementary school. Aims: This study investigated the developmental trajectories of NL accuracy and its types across the elementary school years in two countries—Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Sample(s): The analyses were carried out on the data collected from the sample of 508 schoolchildren at Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 (aged 6.4–11.9 years) from Russia and Kyrgyzstan, who were surveyed as part of the 'Cross‐cultural Longitudinal Analysis of Student Success' project. Methods: The participants were administered the 'Number Line' computerized test task and a paper‐and‐pencil 'Standard Progressive Matrices' test at the end of each academic year. Results: During the course of the elementary school education, NL accuracy increases nonlinearly in both samples from Grade 1 to Grade 4, with a pronounced increase in the rate of improvement from the first to the second year. Cross‐country differences in NL accuracy were observed during each year of schooling as well as in the growth of NL accuracy. The development of NL accuracy is described by a model with two developmental types: (1) 'high start and growth' (93% of the pooled sample) and (2) 'low start and no growth' (7%). Conclusions: Both NL accuracy and the rate of its growth during elementary school depend on educational conditions. Cross‐country differences in the distribution of schoolchildren by these two developmental types were statistically insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational number and fractions concepts are inherently difficult; and lack of mastery often holds students back from success in subsequent mathematics courses. This paper describes design characteristics of a software based, adaptive, rational number tutor with virtual manipulatives, realistic contexts, and procedural feedback. Then, the paper presents findings from a randomized crossover trial designed to evaluate the impact of the described intervention on student fraction achievement. The trial was conducted in two districts in two states with 17 elementary school teachers and 297 4th and 5th grade students. Half of the participating classrooms replaced worksheet practice time (over 10 instructional hours) with Woot Math Adaptive Learning (WMAL), a digital tutor that incorporates dynamic digital manipulatives, video tutorials and automatic feedback to students and teachers. After 10 instructional hours the groups switched conditions for another 10 instructional hours so each student would have exposure to the treatment and control conditions. Analysis shows that regardless of treatment order, student performance gains on assessment items (mostly from NAEP and TIMMS) were statistically higher, (d = 0.39, F(1,589) = 5.73, p < 0.05), after 10 days of instruction with WMAL than they were after 10 days of business‐as‐usual instruction. This difference of 0.39 standard units corresponds to an improvement index of 10.9 (percentile point gain compared to non‐treatment). The results demonstrate how the described approach to software and instructional design can work together to support significant increases in student achievement in rational number domains by combining best practices in feedback, curricular design, and adaptive instructional sequences. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic?Fraction difficulties are common and compound into greater math difficulties and math anxiety.Best practices for teaching fractions include the use of manipulatives and a focus on conceptual understanding. Feedback should focus on both the process of learning and the products that students produce.Adaptive software systems have the potential to support student practice but there are limited studies in authentic classroom environments with comparable control groups.Other adaptive systems have not implemented best practices in adaptability, design for feedback and curricular design.What this paper adds?Describes a software‐based intervention designed with best practices in curricular design for student development of conceptual understanding of fractions.Describes adaptive features of the software intervention for pacing and automated feedback on both student responses and their work.Reports on a randomised crossover study to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention as compared to business‐as‐usual instructional methods for student practice time.Implications for practice and/or policy?Provides evidence to support curricular materials that use manipulatives and are designed to promote conceptual understanding in addition to procedural fluency.Describes how technology can efficiently scale best practices and support teachers in helping students make sense of fractions.Reports on how classroom technology can support and extend teaching through personalised learning and improved feedback used during independent practice time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a large volume of published studies describing the positive role of Augmented Reality (AR) in educational settings. However, there is a paucity of empirical work that explores its role in supporting primary school pupil's motivation and creativity. Moreover, numerous studies have confirmed that pupils have difficulties in learning geometry and thinking geometrically. In this context, this paper explores the possibility of using AR software for low‐grade primary school pupils to enhance their creative thinking and increase their motivation during the informal geometry training course. A research‐based design process is adopted to replicate the primary school pupil's learning in this study, where pupils in the experimental group used mobile application to access AR virtual manipulatives, pupils in the control group used physical manipulatives. The applied AR technology allows pupils to handle 2D and 3D rounded corners and simple closed curves to find the most effective solutions for some learning challenges. Sixty‐two pupils from the first‐grade primary school in Egypt have participated in this study with the aim of investigating: (a) the primary school pupil's achievements and creative thinking in using AR techniques, and (b) the specific strategies that can increase their motivation and engagement. The most obvious finding to emerge from this study is that there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in geometry learning achievement, while statistically significant differences were found between the groups in the motivation and creative thinking skills in favour of the experimental group. Lay Description: What is already known about this topicAugmented Reality must have three characteristics: combining the real and virtual worlds, having real‐time interaction with the user and is being registered in a 3D environment.There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of the 21st century skills in the new global economy.There has been significant interest in utilized AR in higher education. However, limited research has been conducted about integrating AR techniques to enhance young children's creative thinking skills and motivation in informal learning scenarios.To date, there are few studies that have investigated the association between augmented environment and learning theories. What this paper addsIntroduced an iterative methodology based on the cognitive theory of multimedia learning integrating the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as the inclusive learning approach for creating Smart‐flashcard as a mobile AR applications for elementary school.Research studies on informal learning are particularly limited, so this study can fill a gap in the literature.This paper provides a conceptual approach for AR design, based on multimedia learning theory.AR Smart‐flashcard application represents a shift away from traditional textbooks, flashcards and other learning material where children are limited to viewing learning content passively towards a more dynamic and augmented one. Implications for practice and/or policyUsing AR applications, children interact with the 3D models, enhance creativity and collaboration in teams.The informal education can play a crucial role in developing some of the skills required for the 21st century.The study also highlights the need for new approaches combing the technical learning tools and pedagogical foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School closures due to the COVID‐19 pandemic uncovered the overriding need to create engaging online learning environments to facilitate students' learning. This paper focuses on the online evaluation of Own‐Voice Intensive Phonics (OVIP) approach, a computer‐assisted instruction programme used during the COVID restrictions to help 15 pupils aged 7–12 with reading difficulties improve their reading. Analysis of Single Word Reading pre‐and‐post‐test revealed a 3.2‐year mean word reading age gain over a 19‐ to 22‐week period. Questionnaire data from pupils and parents and the end of OVIP session and parent‐reported data at a one‐year follow‐up demonstrated an overall increase in pupil reading skills and self‐confidence that transferred into wider confidence and engagement for some pupils. Findings indicate that OVIP might be an effective teacher‐mediated programme in supporting pupils with reading difficulties to enhance their reading skills through online tutoring. Further research is necessary to compare teacher‐mediated own voice approaches to unmediated programmes, using a larger sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the potential of a learning analytics (LA) based formative assessment to construct personalised teaching sequences in Mathematics for 5th‐grade primary school students. A total of 127 students from Spanish public schools participated in the study. The quasi‐experimental study was conducted over the course of six sessions, in which both control and experimental groups participated in a teaching sequence based on mathematical problems. In each session, both groups used audience response systems to record their responses to mathematical tasks about fractions. After each session, students from the control group were given generic homework on fractions—the same activities for all the participants—while students from the experimental group were given a personalised set of activities. The provision of personalised homework was based on the students' errors detected from the use of the LA‐based formative assessment. After the intervention, the results indicate a higher student level of understanding of the concept of fractions in the experimental group compared to the control group. Related to motivational dimensions, results indicated that instruction using audience response systems has a positive effect compared to regular mathematics classes. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Developing an understanding of fractions is one of the most challenging concepts in elementary mathematics and a solid predictor of future achievements in mathematics.Learning analytics (LA) has the potential to provide quality, functional data for assessing and supporting learners' difficulties.Audience response systems (ARS) are one of the most practical ways to collect data for LA in classroom environments.There is a scarcity of field research implementations on LA mediated by ARS in real contexts of elementary school classrooms.What this paper adds Empirical evidence about how LA‐based formative assessments can enable personalised homework to support student understanding of fractions.Personalised homework based on an LA‐based formative assessment improves the students' comprehension of fractions.Using ARS for the teaching of fractions has a positive effect in terms of student motivation.Implications for practice and/or policy Teachers should be given LA/ARS tools that allow them to quickly provide students with personalised mathematical instruction.Researchers should continue exploring these potentially beneficial educational implementations in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reading motivation can greatly impact reading comprehension, but it tends to diminish in and beyond elementary school. This study employs knowledge building pedagogy to advance reading motivation and comprehension in an elementary Chinese language arts class. Participants were twenty‐four third graders who spent one class period (ie, 40 minutes) for 18 weeks in Knowledge Forum to study 10 lessons in a reading textbook. Data mainly came from: a reading motivation questionnaire, online interaction logs, online discourse and PILRS reading comprehension assessments. It was found that knowledge building enhanced children's reading motivation (particularly in terms of reading competence) and reading comprehension (especially at the higher levels). Most students demonstrated spontaneous engagement in advanced online activities demanding high‐level agency. A correlation was also identified between children's motivation to read and more advanced online discourse behaviours requiring higher agency, leading to a deeper understanding of reading. Implications for fostering a motivated reading community that values collective knowledge advancement are discussed. Practitioner notes: What is already known about this topic Innovating classroom‐based instruction for enhancing learners' reading motivation and comprehension has been an important challenge in reading education.Reading motivation is positively associated with reading comprehension but tends to diminish in and beyond elementary school.Technology‐supported reading and learning are further enhanced by interactive online discussions among learners.Engaging learners in collective knowledge building activities can facilitate their reading comprehension. What this paper adds Learner engagement in knowledge building activities, particularly advanced online activities, is associated with higher reading motivation (especially intrinsic reading competence).The process analysis shows that learners' online discourses focus more on higher‐level reading comprehension with extended use of knowledge building pedagogy.Learners exhibit better reading comprehension across all levels of reading comprehension with the implementation of knowledge building pedagogy. Implications for practice and/or policy Knowledge building pedagogy, featuring assuming agency, working with ideas, and fostering community practices, can be a viable approach to reading motivation and comprehension.The design of digital platforms should aim not just to foster knowledge‐acquiring and ‐sharing from reading but also to extend reading into knowledge building activities that highlight idea improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of making as a form of activism or, as we refer to it in this paper, craftivism, underpins our ambition to transform pedagogical environments into spaces of possibility through sensory and affective making practices. A craftivist agenda pushes for open teaching and learning with materials so that students can inhabit a what if space which ruptures institutional time and space. Beginning with a theorization of disruptive making and dissensus and then moving on to foreground a materialist stance on making, the paper illustrates how students experience materialities across two very different classroom environments and how these experiences led to greater presence, voice and agency for students. There is an underlying focus in the paper on embodied responses and affective flows. After theorizing craftivism, there are three sections that explore making, teaching and feeling through craftivist, postdigital methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While development of a range of cognitive skills and strategies is integral to the literacy process and strong attainment, students' motivation, engagement and self‐confidence also exert a powerful influence on academic achievement. In recent times in the field of literacy there has been renewed interest in motivation, engagement and sense of self‐efficacy as it relates to literacy achievement. This paper reports on findings from Write to Read, a longitudinal collaborative university and school literacy intervention project in disadvantaged schools. Drawing on questionnaire data from teachers, interview data from children, teachers and principals and data from audio and video recordings of literature discussions, this paper presents findings in relation to developments in children's motivation and engagement in literacy in a subset of classrooms and schools involved in the intervention. Practices associated with increasing engagement included time, choice, dialogic mixed‐ability reading groups, building self‐efficacy and explicit teaching of vocabulary and comprehension skills. Highlights: What is already known about this topicMany definitions of motivation and engagement are found in the literature; the terms are often used interchangeably, and research has not yet empirically established the directionality of the constructs (linear, bidirectional or multidirectional). What this paper addsFindings in the current study suggest that engagement is a multidirectional construct: as children's engagement in the mixed‐ability groupings within a socially stimulating dialogic environment motivated children to read and participate in the group. Motivation did not precede engagement.A dual emphasis on motivation/engagement and cognitive skills for literacy development within a balanced literacy framework are effective in building children's motivation and engagement and are particularly important for children in high‐poverty contexts. Implications for theory, policy or practiceA dual emphasis on affective dimensions of literacy and on developmentally appropriate cognitive skills and strategies is required to address the literacy achievement gap between children in high‐poverty contexts and their more advantaged peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important for university students studying elementary music education to master basic conducting gestures. We have developed a VR training system for self‐study of Saito's music conducting method. The system uses a depth camera and magnetic motion capture system to measure hand movements, and an HMD to superimpose the teacher's hand on the trainee's own hand. With the system, trainee can self‐study while visually and three‐dimensionally checking the motion and timing of the teacher's and the trainee's own hand gestures. In this paper, we describe an evaluation experiment with our system. The results showed that the VR environment is effective for learning three‐dimensional movements, and that the addition of a visual line display function for trajectories, a function to display trajectories from different viewpoints, and a replay function improves the learning effect. Specifically, the results of a short training session of 5 min revealed that the developed system was effective in bringing 75% of the trainees closer to the teacher's gesture. © 2023 Institute of Electrical Engineer of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While AI has become more prevalent in our society than ever, many young learners are found holding various naive, erroneous conceptions of AI due to the influence of their technology and media environments. To address this issue, this study seeks to propose a novel pedagogical solution to improve upper‐elementary school students' scientific understanding of AI. Following a theory‐informed design convention, we propose an embodied, analogical and disruptive (EAD) approach which is centred on a human–AI comparison through analogical teaching and embodied interaction. To evaluate the impact of this approach, a matched‐group experimental study with pre‐ and posttest interviews was conducted among 77 Grade 6 elementary students in China. The statistical analysis showed that the experimental group, learning via the EAD approach, significantly outperformed their counterparts receiving direct instruction in terms of student growth in understanding. Qualitative analyses revealed the strengths of the EAD approach in supporting student engagement, abstract thinking and system thinking, and its limitations in cognitive overload and communication issues. Patterns of student learning were identified, including their mental schemas and strategies. The EAD approach, as an evidence‐based, age‐appropriate pedagogical solution, demonstrates the value of embodied cognition and human–AI analogy in AI education in elementary education. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Many young students hold naive, erroneous conceptions about AI.Pedagogical design has long been a critical challenge in teaching AI in K‐12 schools.Human–AI analogies are often used to teach AI, but with obvious pitfalls to be fixed.What this paper adds An embodied, analogical and disruptive (EAD) approach is proposed to improve students' understandings of AI.An experimental study shows statistically significant greater gains in students' understanding with the EAD approach than with the conventional AI‐only direct instruction approach.Qualitative analysis shows the strength of the EAD approach in supporting student engagement, abstract thinking and systems thinking, and its limitations in cognitive overload and communication issues.Implications for practice and/or policy The EAD approach offers a novel pedagogical solution to promote inclusive and quality AI education for young learners.The EAD approach highlights the pedagogical value of embodied cognition and human–AI analogy in AI education.The EAD approach can complement programming and other plugged activities in AI, and more broadly technology and engineering education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well‐established that being a self‐regulated learner is beneficial academically, motivationally and is considered essential for productive life‐long learning. Despite this, there is limited evidence examining how different measures of self‐regulation for learning (SRL) relate to task performance for young students learning in digital contexts. This study investigated the relationships between different measures of SRL of elementary school students (N = 48, Mage = 10.75) while using a computer‐based learning environment, and their association with task performance and teacher rating of student SRL ability. Results confirmed the most effective measure of SRL, in terms of its relationship with, and predictability of task performance, was a self‐report written response, whereby students identified and explained known SRL strategies, such as how to plan, monitor or complete their work. Teacher ratings of their students' metacognitive capability were significantly correlated with task performance and with two self‐report instruments: the Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory and the SRL written response. Associations between actual observed self‐regulation behaviours in a computer‐based learning environment, using Azevedo et al.'s coding framework and how students self‐reported their knowledge and understanding about SRL, were weak. Observations of young students' SRL behaviours in computer‐based learning environments were not significantly related to task performance. Better understanding of these relationships will help educators and researchers to know where they should focus their attention in terms of developing elementary school students' self‐regulatory capabilities in digital contexts, as well as the reliability of self‐report measures of SRL as relative to observations of self‐regulation and task performance. Implications for teacher practice are also discussed. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Students need to use self‐regulation for learning (SRL) strategies in digital contexts.Self‐regulation strategies need to be explicitly taught to students as they are not guaranteed to become automatically acquired.Being a self‐regulated learner leads to improved academic performance, engagement and motivation.What this paper adds Empirical evidence addressing the associations and patterns between various measures of SRL for young students learning in digital environments.Student self‐report explanations of known SRL strategies was the only significant predictor of student task performance.Coding of young students' SRL behaviours in digital environments do not relate well to task performance.Implications for practice and/or policy Understanding the associations between young students' self‐report of SRL and how this relates to their actual SRL behaviour while using digital technology is critical to supporting student learning and success.Learning to better articulate self‐regulation strategies may result in greater consciousness and application of self‐regulation strategies in digital contexts, which in turn could improve task performance.Eliciting explanations from students about SRL strategies may be more informative and expedient than conducting and analysing individual observations in digital contexts, to determine the general self‐regulatory knowledge and understanding of young students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article studies the concepts of magnetism held by elementary school children. The study examines whether the children's concepts of magnetism parallel the historical development of man's knowledge of the subject. Children were questioned individually by the author. Each child was asked with the following basic questions: Why do magnets pick up metals?; Will a magnet pick up paper?; Why does this end (N) of a magnet attract this end (S)?; and what is the difference between magnetism and gravity? Children's concepts of magnetism were classified according to the following topics: Composition, Power, Electricity, Earth, Gravity, Magic, Temperature, Pressure and Unclassified. Concepts allude to operations of glue, magic, temperature, pressure, rust, size, physical composition, chemical composition and mechanical force.

Writing is a recording process involving complex dynamic behaviours, which is closely connected with authentic contexts. A free authentic context can form a link with students' life experience and their prior knowledge, so that students' deep writing skills can be stimulated. However, in traditional writing activities, the lack of authentic experience is an important reason for students' poor writing achievements and low behavioural engagement. To address this problem, the current study used a spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR)‐supported Chinese composition writing approach, which can provide authentic contexts to support students' deep writing. An SVVR experiential learning model was developed and a quasi‐experiment was conducted in a primary school to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach. A total of 59 fourth‐grade students from China were recruited and were randomly divided into the experimental group, which adopted the SVVR‐supported learning approach, and the control group, which adopted the non‐SVVR‐supported learning approach. The results show that the proposed approach can promote students' transition of learning behavioural engagement from medium to high, as well as the development of deep writing skills. It was found that students learning with the SVVR approach who acquired better deep writing skills tended to demonstrate better writing performance in relation to linguistic expressiveness and creative thinking than the students learning with the non‐SVVR approach. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic There is an urgent need to use immersive technologies to promote deep learning and stimulate students' learning behavioural engagement in writing.Spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) is one of the immersive VRs with a low technical barrier and low cost, which meets the needs of school settings.SVVR has been applied in areas of language, engineering, science, etc., while its impacts on students' composition writing achievements have generally been ignored, especially in primary schools.The characteristics of immersion, interaction and imagination in SVVR that allow students to have opportunities of experiential learning can potentially promote students' writing performance.What this paper adds A novel experiential learning model supported by the SVVR learning system was developed.An SVVR‐supported composition writing approach based on the proposed experiential learning model was used to promote primary school students' deep writing.It was found that students' composition writing performance, learning behavioural engagement and deep writing skills can be improved by applying the SVVR‐supported learning approach in writing courses.Implications for practice and/or policy It is worth promoting the application of SVVR in school settings because it is a low‐tech and low‐cost method of creating immersive learning environments.The SVVR‐supported composition writing approach is useful for promoting primary school students' deep writing.Further investigations on the effects of employing this approach in writing, with careful consideration of the development for interactivities of SVVR, are expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem solving is often regarded as one of the most essential cognitive functions in our daily lives, and, for that reason, educational theorists have long stressed the need for its development. As cognitive flexibility is a fundamental characteristic necessary throughout the problem‐solving process, the purpose of this study is to analyse students' problem‐solving performance after following intra‐task flexibility‐based training mediated by an intelligent tutoring system. With this aim, 110 fifth and sixth grade students took part in a quasi‐experimental study that included six forty‐five‐minute flexibility‐based training sessions preceded and followed by test sessions in order to evaluate eventual problem‐solving proficiency improvements. The findings show that intra‐task flexibility training enhances students' ability to solve arithmetic word problems, especially when flexibility‐related activities are completed sequentially in the same session and not in different sessions. Furthermore, the proposed instruction is particularly helpful in improving girls' problem‐solving competence, which can minimize eventual gender gaps and strengthen their STEM vocation. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Cognitive flexibility is beneficial in finding appropriate problem‐solving strategies.Exposing students to a variety of problem‐solving methods or strategies can improve their cognitive flexibility.Boys are more likely than girls to flexibly apply multiple solution paths while solving problems, which leads to gender differences in mathematics.By contrast, girls are more prone to take advantage of instructional advice when using intelligent tutoring systems (ITS).What this paper adds Prompting students to apply multiple resolution strategies within the same problem (intra‐task flexibility instruction) is comparatively more efficient than standard instruction in promoting problem‐solving performance.It is more effective in terms of problem‐solving proficiency to ask students to find different resolutions for a problem sequentially in the same session than to do so in separate sessions.Effectiveness of ITS‐mediated flexibility‐based training leads to the promotion of problem‐solving proficiency, particularly in the case of female students.Implications for practice and/or policy The use of the ITS HINTS has the potential to promote the use of multiple solutions in problem solving by monitoring the resolution paths of the student, which can be difficult in a traditional classroom setting.ITS‐mediated flexibility‐based training is especially effective in improving girls' problem‐solving competence, which can minimize eventual gender gaps and strengthen their STEM vocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the increased attention and interest related to the application of virtual reality with head‐mounted displays in education, this study examined the elementary students' perceptions of using immersive virtual field trips (VFTs) in the classroom. Reflection papers from 25 students were analyzed and triangulated with field notes from class observations and teacher interviews. The content analysis revealed that VFTs were perceived to be efficient with regard to time and cost, to expand learning opportunities, but lacked physical interaction. Elementary students also suggested immersive VFTs are engaging, real, and provide an increased perception of virtual presence. However, they also expressed concerns about health and safety, psychological side effects, technical malfunctions, and low social interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serious games are designed to improve learning instead of providing only entertainment. Serious games analytics can be used for understanding and enhancing the quality of learning with serious games. One challenge in developing the computerized support for learning is that learning of skills varies between players. Appropriate algorithms are needed for analyzing the performance of individual players. This paper presents a novel clustering‐based profiling method for analyzing serious games learners. GraphoLearn, a game for training connections between the speech sounds and letters, serves as the game‐based learning environment. The proposed clustering method was designed to group the learners into profiles based on game log data. The obtained profiles were statistically analyzed. For instance, the results revealed one profile consisting of 136 players who had difficulties with connecting most of the target sounds and letters, whereas learners in the other profiles typically had difficulties with specific sound‐letter pairs. The results suggest that this profiling method can be useful for identifying children with a risk of reading disability and the proposed approach is a promising new method for analyzing serious game log data. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic Serious games are used to improve learning and to tailor learning environments for people with various difficulties in learning.Learning analytics and serious games analytics are growing research fields, applying and developing data analysis methods to analyze, profile and understand learning using serious games.GraphoLearn is a learning game for training reading skills. The game provides preventive support for learners with varying skill levels including individuals who are struggling with reading.What this paper adds The paper develops and presents a novel approach for serious games analytics to analyze GraphoLearn players.The proposed data analysis approach produces an interpretable set of error profiles, which characterize the learning difficulties in a unique way.The profiling method can be used for longitudinal studies and applied to analyzing logs of other serious games.Implications for practice and/or policy It is possible to reveal and understand profiles of serious game players.The proposed data analysis method can be used to identify players who have a potential risk for reading difficulties or disabilities.Even though the proposed method provides only limited information about players' future skills, it offers a good starting point for other studies in which players' development can be monitored more accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: New research findings are presented in this paper, responding to a significant knowledge gap about the role of pedagogy in tackling persistent educational inequalities. The paper examines the potential of reading for pleasure (RfP) pedagogy to disrupt ‘pedagogy of poverty’ in low socio‐economic (SES) schools and to enable children to reap the cognitive, well‐being and social benefits of RfP. Children's volition and social interaction as readers are central to RfP and have been found to be particularly constrained by pedagogy common in low SES schools in the United States, Australia and England. The research examined how pedagogy for RfP was instantiated in four low SES English primary schools to understand how this potential might be realised and its effects on children's engagement with RfP. The schools were selected because they had invested in RfP, yet the study found their RfP pedagogies did not in practice support children's volition and engagement because teachers' understandings of reading focused upon proficiency. Such teachers need to reconceptualise reading as social and volitional to underpin RfP pedagogies. The paper provides new insight into the challenges of developing genuine RfP pedagogy and other pedagogies that profile volition and active engagement with learning in low SES schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Educational robotics (ER) is a means of teaching technology and engineering to students that offers an active learning environment by encouraging them to create meaningful and unique products. ER also gives students the opportunity to work collaboratively. Objectives: In this study, elementary school students' behavioral patterns were explored while they were working on a collaborative robotics project. Additionally, behavioral patterns of higher‐achievement and lower‐achievement groups were compared. Methods: The participants of the study were a total of 18 students (aged 10–12), including 17 males and 1 female. A problem‐based robotics competition was designed within the scope of the study. The students were asked to design and program a robot based on certain rules in groups within four weeks for this competition. All robot design processes and the competition were video‐recorded. Quantitative content analysis and lag‐sequential analysis methods were used to analyze students' behaviors. Results and Conclusions: The results showed that ER improves collaborative learning, and behaviors in the contributing and planning categories were the dominant behaviors during the robotics project development. Grouping skills of higher‐achievement groups were better. Based on the significant collaborative behavioral patterns that emerged from the study, implications were discussed in terms of theoretical insights and collaborative educational robotics practices. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Studies have shown that educational robotics (ER) has a potential impact on students' collaborative learning (CL).Communication and collaboration skills stand out among the 21st century skills that students need to have.Knowledge‐construction behaviours are very important in CL, and researchers have conducted studies to determine behavioural patterns in different technological environments.Previous studies have highlighted the importance of understanding students' behavioural patterns in technology‐assisted learning environments. What this paper adds: This study aims at comprehensively examining collaborative behavioural patterns of elementary school students working on a robotics project.The results showed that behaviours in the contributing and planning categories were the dominant behaviours.Grouping skills of higher achievement groups were better. Implications for practice and/or policy: Our results suggest that ER activities can improve students' co‐regulation skills by supporting the problem‐solving process.ER could be considered as a tool able to contribute to collaborative learning.By using problem‐based collaborative educational robotic activities, students' interactions with their peers can be strengthened.Students' grouping skills should be taken into consideration when establishing groups in ER activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current knowledge of the effects of the physical environment on learners' behaviour in collaborative problem‐solving tasks is underexplored. This paper aims to critically examine the potential of multimodal learning analytics, using new data sets, in studying how the shapes of shared tables affect the learners' behaviour when collaborating in terms of patterns of participation and indicators related to physical social interactions. The research presented in this paper investigates this question considering the potential interplay with contextual aspects (level of education) and learning design decisions (group size). Three dependent variables (distance between students, range of movement and level of participation) are tested using quantitative and qualitative analyses of data collected using a motion capture system and video recordings. Results show that the use of round tables (vs rectangular tables) leads to higher levels of on‐task participation in the case of elementary school students. For university students, different table shapes seem to have a limited impact on their levels of participation in collaborative problem solving. The analysis shows significant differences regarding the relationship between group size and the distance between students, but there is no substantial evidence that group size affects the level of participation. The findings support previous research highlighting the importance of studying the role of the physical environment as an element of learning design and the potential of multimodal learning analytics in approaching these studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABRACADABRA (ABRA) is an evidence‐based suite of interactive multimedia that engages learners in the development of core reading skills. This meta‐analysis presents an update of the research evidence about the effectiveness of ABRA for elementary students. It reports 91 effect sizes in six reading‐related outcomes for a sample of 7,388 students. Regardless of context and measurement type, the studies yielded positive effects of ABRA, ranging in magnitude from g+ = 0.080 for Vocabulary Knowledge to g+ = 0.378 for Phonemic Awareness and reaching statistical significance in four outcome categories. This meta‐analysis adds to our understanding of the effectiveness of ABRA‐based reading instruction by exploring factors of research design, ABRA design and implementation contexts, and various student characteristics and offers implications for instructional practice. Lay Description: What is known about the subject matterIf well‐designed and ‐implemented, computer‐based instruction can have positive effects on learning.Early literacy instruction could substantially benefit from technology use.Among offline and online computer applications targeting literacy, ABRA is a top‐rated software.17 field studies of ABRA were completed in the UK, China, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia and Kenya.What paper addsThis paper summarizes 91 effect sizes in 6 reading‐related outcomes based on a sample of 7,388 students.Independent of design, context and measurement type, the studies yielded positive effects in 6 outcomes.The highest effects were for Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Reading and Listening Comprehension.ABRA effects are consistent across different student categories implications of study.Findings for practitionersIn authentic classrooms where ABRA is in the hands of teachers, fidelity of implementation is critical.Quality implementation means teaching literacy in a balanced way with attention to decoding and comprehension.ABRA instruction is student‐centered where students interact with the tool individually, in pairs or small groups.Ideas on ABRA literacy instruction are at https://grover.concordia.ca/resources/abra/teacher/en/index.p [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have shown that word dictation and syntactic skills are significant predictors of written composition performance among Chinese children in elementary grades. However, there is a paucity of research on the bidirectional relationships between these two cognitive‐linguistic skills (i.e., word dictation and syntactic skills) and Chinese writing skills. Methods: This paper reports the findings of a 1‐year longitudinal study tracking the developmental patterns of Chinese writing among students in Grades 3 and 5 in Hong Kong. The participants were administered tasks involving cognitive‐linguistic skills (working memory, word dictation and syntactic skills) and writing skills (narrative writing and expository writing). Results: Multiple regression analysis revealed that word dictation and syntactic skills in Grades 3 and 5 were significant longitudinal predictors of Chinese written composition performance in Grade 4 and Grade 6. Syntactic skills, but not word dictation, contributed a significant amount of unique variance to writing performance after controlling for the autoregressor effect of writing. The results also showed that written composition performance in Grades 3 and 5 contributed unique variance to individual differences in syntactic skills in Grades 4 and 6, after controlling for syntactic skills in the preceding year and other cognitive‐linguistic variables. Conclusion: The patterns of results underscore the significance of syntactic skills in Chinese written composition in upper elementary grades and the bidirectional relationship between syntactic skills and written composition in Chinese. Highlights: What is already known about this topicChinese word dictation, syntactic skills and verbal working memory are the major types of developmental skills important in Chinese writing among children in elementary grades. What this paper addsThe longitudinal contribution of word dictation to writing performance across grades was mediated by the contribution of word dictation to concurrent writing performance.Syntactic skills contributed a unique amount of variance to writing performance across grades even after controlling for the autoregressor effect of writing.The longitudinal relationships between syntactic skills and written composition were bidirectional. Implications for theory, policy or practiceAn emphasis on grammar teaching in the context of writing may benefit both writing and syntactic skills development.Combined word dictation and composing instruction, rather than teaching word dictation alone or composing instruction alone, may enhance composing skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an application for interactive sonification of images intended for use on mobile devices in education of blind children at elementary school level. The paper proposes novel sonification algorithms for converting colour and grayscale images into sound. The blind user can interactively explore image content through multi‐touch gestures and select image sub‐regions for sonification with real‐time control of the synthesized sound parameters such as amplitude, frequency and timbre. Additionally, images may contain text fields read by text‐to‐speech synthesizer. The usability of one of the proposed sonification schemes is tested by collecting data on the tracking accuracy and recognition speed of basic shapes, such as lines, curves, as well as figures and simple functions. In order to facilitate the learning process for blind children, a number of games were proposed that use the devised sonification schemes. The first game—"Hear the Invisible"—is intended for two players—one child draws a shape and the task of the other one is to guess the displayed shape by means of the available sonification methods. The second proposed game is "Follow the Rabbit" and is intended for a single player who tracks a colourful "Rabbit" that runs along a path representing a given geometric shape. The obtained results show that the proposed sonification methods allow to reach previously unattainable levels of flexibility in exploration of shapes and colours. The main application of the described interactive tool is to teach geometry and mathematics in schools for blind children. The developed games are meant to enhance the learning process and motivate the children. Practitioner NotesWhat is known about the topic Sonification is a generic term for data‐based non‐speech sound generation.Interactive sonification is a relatively fresh area of study, where the listener heavily influences the process of sound synthesis.Earlier studies on sonification and educational computer games have shown that it is possible to demonstrate shapes such as plots and geometry using only non‐verbal sounds.What the paper adds The paper proposes an interactive sonification algorithm that can be used on greyscale or colour images using additive synthesis and the HSV colour representation.The presented software also allows to record and analyse user interaction with the images, making it a good research tool for current and future sonification algorithms.The paper presents a pilot study with blind children using two games that improve the learning process of the proposed algorithms.Implications for practice and/or policy Once the software is openly released it can be easily installed on any Android OS device to allow blind users to analyse images by touch.The proposed games train the users the basics of the sonification algorithm in a competitive context.The software can be especially useful in education of blind children, eg, in teaching geometry, math and in training visual and spatial imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present study analyses the design of programming literacy in the sixth grade of Primary Education, starting from the use of simple activities with visual block‐based programming, through Scratch, and progressively linking difficulty to the use of the Unity engine, and the C# language, with simple activities identical to those created in Scratch. Objectives: This research aims to evaluate future teachers' abilities and attitudes regarding programming and its educational possibilities. We intend to evaluate the viability of a teaching proposal that combines a visual block‐based programming environment and a more advanced one, based on C#. Method: In the settings of two public Spanish universities, we analyse the possibilities in the training of future teachers who are studying for a degree in Primary Education Teaching and a degree in Pedagogy. Based on a test and three scales, descriptive data and statistical inference are detailed through a quasi‐experimental design with a Student's t‐test in the first dimension, and a Wilcoxon test in the second dimension. Results: The participants improved their performance and attitudes towards programming with the intervention of the study in the use of coding. Conclusions: It can be concluded that coding is essential in teacher training, and that a greater presence of programming training in higher education is essential. The benefits are visible in the pedagogical approach of coding related to creativity, innovation, motivation, an active approach and interest, highlighting the fact that the implementation of visual block‐based programming by blocks and engines is feasible in Elementary Education. The training proposal—provided by appropriate progression, selection, and sequencing of content—fosters basic and practical teacher training, and this can be defined as an apt training solution. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Visual Programming Language (Scratch) provides benefits in educational contextsEducational Technology in classroom provides motivation and encouragement.Active methods and interactions are interesting and beneficial to elementary school students What this paper adds: Visual programming and game engine are feasible in Elementary Education, detailing significant improvements regarding academic outcomesWe found benefits in this pedagogical approach related to creativity, innovation, motivation, active approach and interest. Implications for practice and/or policy: Due to the benefits and positive results obtained in this research it is recommended to implement Visual Programming LanguageWe recommend the introduction to engine in educational settings in 6th grade in primary education though a cross‐curricular implementation.We recommend to apply an active approach, innovation, and learning computational concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of their high contact time with children, particularly children identified with special educational needs, it is widely acknowledged that teaching assistants ( TAs) have great influence on pupils' education ( Balshaw). However, recent research into the impact of TAs on pupils' learning has questioned TAs' usefulness in improving pupils' learning (Blatchford, Bassett and Brown; Higgins). This paper argues that TAs' influence on pupils' education has not yet been researched effectively. Previous research has primarily focused on determining TAs' influence on pupils' achievement in terms of academic outcomes and has neglected to explore social outcomes. Two interconnected literature bases are reviewed in this paper; the current research exploring TAs' role and influence on pupils' learning is first explored, followed by a critical discussion of the literature regarding the process of social inclusion in mainstream primary schools. This paper concludes that for TAs' influence on pupils' learning to be effectively researched, TAs' influence on the process of social inclusion must be researched within mainstream primary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the need for enhancing our awareness of user-centered design in educational technology through a more explicit and systematic alignment between the needs of educational technology users (learners and educators) and the affordances provided by the technology. First, we define the term 'affordance' and discuss it from the perspectives of cognitive psychology and user interaction design. Next, we propose a taxonomy of functional affordances that builds on prior research and reflects the current trends in the design of educational technologies. The paper is concluded with an illustration of how explicit alignment of needs, abilities, and affordances can inform the evaluation of an educational technology designed to support dyslexic readers. The four-step framework applied in this analysis helps (a) define user needs, (b) identify a potentially appropriate technology, (c) understand the abilities the technology affords and (d) align technological affordances with the specific needs of the target users. This framework is a step toward increased recognition of the importance of user-centered design of educational technologies; it provides the needed guidance and structure for aligning needs, abilities, and affordances during the design, implementation, and evaluation of technologies for learning and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of this paper is to describe the development of an interactive application that can be used in teaching English as a second language using children's stories in mobile devices. The aim of this experimental study has been to find out the potential of using the developed interactive mobile application in improving the learning skills such as vocabulary, pronunciation, listening and comprehension of the learners of the English language without the help of a teacher. The novelty of the research in this paper has been the use of a speech recognition engine on the mobile phone to identify spoken words of the learner in an attempt to teach correct pronunciation of words. The learning is interactive and it takes place entirely on a mobile phone. In this experimental study 37 voluntary students have participated. A Pre-Test and a Post-Test have been performed to find out the learning abilities of students. The results of the experimental study clearly indicated that English learning skills of young students had higher statistically significant improvements as a result of using the developed application in the experimental group. It can be concluded that the developed mobile application can be used as an educational tool in teaching English as a second language. Young students who may be interested in improving their listening, vocabulary, comprehension and pronunciation skills while learning English as a second language should find this mobile application enjoyable and useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between digital games and learning along the continuum from formal to informal learning. Games are an increasingly important component of our learning ecologies but their potential can prove difficult to fully harness due to the downsides of gaming in informal contexts and to the limitations games can present when adopted in formal learning contexts. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of games for learning, and to gather stakeholder recommendations for the main actors in the field. The adopted research approach is qualitative and participatory, involving players, teachers, parents, researchers and developers. Data from 25 interviews and 11 focus groups yielded insights into the educational, psychological and ethical aspects of play. Results suggest that gameplay influences individuals in a very personal manner, and that its effects cover a wide range of skills, extending to identity development. Hence, to harness this potential, all actors in the ecology need strong awareness of both the affordances and the risks of games, and deep respect for individuals' LEs. The study has implications for a wide range of actors, including educators, players, researchers, parents, game developers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the author's discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the development of reading habits to children, the reading comprehension, and testing for reading ability.

Despite the proliferation of multimedia devices in elementary classrooms, there is limited research examining teacher‐created video instruction, particularly regarding its effect on academic growth and engagement. This study investigated the effect of teacher‐created computer‐based video instruction (CBVI) using iPads on students' academic, behavioural and affective learning in elementary classrooms. The study used a repeated‐measures design with counterbalancing to measure the effects of CBVI during mathematics lessons on student achievement scores, time on‐task and attitudes towards learning. Three year three classes (n = 49) completed three lessons, each using a different mode of instruction: CBVI created by the class teacher, CBVI created by a stranger, and a traditional live lesson delivered by the class teacher. Results were analysed using a Linear Mixed Model. No significant growth in performance was detected during video instruction, however a significant growth result was achieved for the traditional live teaching mode (p < 0.001), possibly attributable to the longer duration of experimental session. Behavioural engagement was considerably higher during CBVI lessons than live lessons and students preferred their teacher's voice during CBVI. Three teachers were interviewed to examine how CBVI affected teaching and learning, with two main themes emerging: (1) positive impacts of CBVI upon students; and (2) positive impacts on teacher wellbeing. This research indicates benefits for students and teachers when using teacher‐created CBVI. Further research is needed to better understand the factors that influence cognitive development of students using CBVI and to also further explore the effect of CBVI on teacher wellbeing. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Video as an instructional method has been used to deliver content to learners for over 40 years.Current mobile technologies have the inbuilt capability to film, edit, upload and access custom‐made instructional videos.Learning through video instruction is enjoying renewed popularity due to Internet capability, increased connectivity and device affordances.Video can promote self‐paced, controlled, personalized learning experiences for students. What this paper adds: Teacher‐created video instruction has been an overlooked pedagogical approach in mainstream elementary classrooms.Students are highly engaged behaviourally when completing teacher‐created video lessons.Students prefer to hear their teacher's voice on the video, rather than a stranger's.Using teacher‐created video instruction in the classroom positively impacts on teacher wellbeing. Implications for practice and/or policy: Using teacher‐created video instruction in the classroom provides a way to deliver differentiated content to groups or individuals.Students have the autonomy to self‐pace and control their learning within the close proximity of the teacher.Teachers are able to provide individual support and attention to students during the video instruction without affecting general learning.High student engagement can positively impact the classroom dynamics and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an era of significant government involvement in schools in England, despite consistent rhetoric from the Department of Education to the contrary. In such a period, signs can be detected of the juncture between a postmodern identity and post-professional status, two models of teacher professionalism supposed in Hargreaves’ work on the fourth age of professionalism. This paper focuses on the former as the nature of the contemporary context. Defining features of postmodernity are considered through a focus on the broad issue of teacher professionalism. For this paper, this is embodied by teachers’ involvement with the development of the Primary National Curriculum for England. Evidence will be drawn from just before its 1988 introduction until 2013 in order to critique several of the key tenets of postmodernity as identified by Hargreaves. This is of particular importance in a context where a strong defence is necessary to enable the sustainment, and growth, of teachers’ professional autonomy. This paper aims to propose some strategies teachers could enact in the face of postmodern challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we argue that in order to gain a deeper understanding of collaborative mobile learning in schools, it is important to know not only how mobile devices affect collaborative learning but also how collaborative learning emerges and is mediated by these devices. We develop our argument by applying the instrumental genesis theory and the collective instrumented activities and situations model for the analysis of learners' collaborative learning in the tablet‐mediated classroom. This analysis is grounded in data collected in four elementary Swedish schools (ie, from fourth to eighth grade). From the data, we considered the learners' conversation in English as a foreign language, inquiry‐based learning in the natural sciences classroom and game‐based learning in the arithmetic classroom. On the one hand, the scrutiny of these specific activities led us to distinguish the pragmatic, epistemic, and reflexive instrumental mediations that have already been theorized in the instrumental genesis theory. On the other hand, they helped us to identify two additional ones, which we call emotional and spatial. Based on these findings, we claim that collaboration in the tablet‐mediated classroom is a complex activity that emerges from a variety of instrumental mediations that configure contemporary collaborative mobile learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over a decade ago the UK government launched its gifted and talented education policy in England, yet there has been very little published research which considers how schools and teachers are interpreting and implementing the policy. By seeking the views of the gifted and talented co-ordinators (For ease of reference, the term gifted and talented (G&T) co-ordinator is used throughout the paper as a generic shorthand for the research participants who were either designated school gifted and talented co-ordinators or teachers or head teachers with responsibility for policy implementation) with responsibility for addressing the requirements of the policy, the study reported in this paper explored how primary schools in England responded to the policy. Drawing on data gathered using questionnaires with a national sample of primary schools as well as follow-up in-depth interviews with a sample of G&T co-ordinators, the authors report their findings. The study found that there was considerable unease about the concept of identifying and 'labelling' a group of pupils as 'gifted and talented'. G&T co-ordinators found it difficult to interpret the policy requirements and were responding pragmatically to what they considered to be required by the government. Curriculum provision for the selected group of gifted and talented pupils was patchy. The paper concludes by identifying a need for further professional development for teachers and by challenging the policy's over-emphasis on identifying and labelling gifted and talented pupils. We posit whether the gifted and talented education policy would have been better introduced and enjoyed greater success by leaving the identification of pupils to one side and by placing greater emphasis on developing effective learning and teaching strategies instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guiding hints and challenge can help scaffold learners to progress beyond what they would achieve independently. The interactive and adaptive capabilities of mobile devices allow educational applications (apps) to support learning through scaffolding designs. However, little research has tested the effects of scaffolding features in apps on young children's learning. Using a 3 × 2 between‐subjects design, this study experimentally tests how three types of app feedback (nonverbal sounds, verbal encouragement, or scaffolded verbal hints) and two types of leveling (gradual vs. random‐ordered challenge) influence 4–5‐year‐old children's learning of novel words (N = 240). Results showed that scaffolded feedback was especially useful when provided at the beginning of app play (p <.01), and scaffolded leveling through gradual increases in difficulty supported faster and more accurate responses than random order challenge (p <.001). Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic Researchers have worked to apply what we know about traditional in‐person teaching with young learners and how that might translate to digital platforms.Parent and teacher scaffolding has been shown to successfully help young children learn. Guidance through increased difficulty and explanatory feedback can help learners gradually build their skills and reflect more deeply on the content they are learning.What this paper adds This study adds to the newly growing collection of experiments testing the design features of educational pre‐school apps.Findings show that scaffolding through educational app feedback and leveling can support young children learning.Results also show that the impact of scaffolding can depend on when the guidance is presented during app play – at the very beginning of play versus later on.Implications for practice and/or policy Findings can help educators and other consumers identify which types of apps are better for scaffolding young children's learning.Suggestions are provided to support educational app developers in designing products that are truly effective.Findings suggest that combinations of app designs may differently impact young children's learning, providing next step testing conditions for educational app designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a case study of English as a second language (ESL) vocabulary learning that examined a group of Grade 4 students' mobile learning experiences of bridging in‐class and real‐life vocabulary learning mediated by a mobile learner‐generated content (m‐LGC) tool. This study was premised on the proposed framework of mobile vocabulary learning from an ecological perspective using the concept of affordances, taking the topic of "Food" as an example. Data collection included learning logs created by students and a questionnaire about students' perceptions of the m‐LGC tool for vocabulary learning. The results revealed four types of affordances of the m‐LGC tool that the learners perceived and acted on in real life outside the classroom, namely: vocabulary form‐meaning mapping, consolidating vocabulary by productive use, vocabulary revision and social affordance. The students' perceptions of the m‐LGC tool for vocabulary learning were positive. This study shows that the various affordances helped students in applying newly learned words to real‐life contexts. Social affordance provided the social contexts for communication via peer interaction, vocabulary expansion as well as the creation of a learning community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When available in multiple languages, educational apps can deliver the same mathematics instruction in the child's first language or different language of instruction. This pilot study examined the feasibility of a maths app intervention compared to standard mathematical practice with 61 children aged 5–6 years attending a bilingual immersion school in Brazil. The apps were delivered in either the child's first (L1, Brazilian Portuguese) or second (L2, English) language, while app content, time on task, and school setting were consistent across the two treatment groups. Time on task in the comparison group was less. After 10 weeks, results showed children made significant mathematical learning gains with the apps, for both languages of instruction, compared to standard practice: the finding is discussed in relation to the threat of time spent on task. Children using the apps in Brazilian Portuguese (L1) completed more app topics than children using the apps in English (L2) and proficiency in language of instruction correlated positively with app progress. As children's L1 was significantly stronger than their L2 proficiency, this suggests the apps were most effectively implemented in their L1. This study advances the conjoining of bilingual educational theories to educational apps in a controlled, real‐world, bilingual immersion setting and highlights important directions for improving app‐based mathematics instruction for bilingual children. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic Educational maths apps, available in multiple languages are increasingly popular.Emerging evidence demonstrates the benefits of maths apps for supporting children's mathematical development.To understand "what works" in the use of maths apps we need to consider factors that may impact outcomes, including children's proficiency in the language of instruction.What this paper adds When delivered in the child's first or second language, maths apps can support the acquisition of basic maths skills.To maximise engagement and learning with maths apps, children should have a sufficient level of proficiency in the language of instruction.Implications for practice and/or policy When deciding to implement maths apps with young children, educational practitioners and parents should consider the individual child's proficiency in the languages spoken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we review computer-based assessment for learning (CBAfL), in elementary and secondary education, as a viable way to merge instruction and assessment of students' developing proficiencies. We begin by contextualizing our topic relative to summative and formative assessment before presenting the current literature, which we categorized into the following: (a) supplementary use in classrooms, (b) web-based, and (c) data-driven, continuous CBAfL. Examples of research studies per category are provided. Findings show that using CBAfL in the classroom, via the Internet, or embedded in a game, generally enhances learning and other outcomes across a range of content areas (e.g. biology, math, and programming). One conclusion is that feedback, to be most beneficial to learning, should not be overly complex and must be used to be effective. Findings also showed that the quality of the assessment (i.e. validity, reliability, and efficiency) is unimpaired by the inclusion of feedback. The possibilities created by advances in the learning sciences, measurement, and technology have paved the way toward new assessment approaches that will support personalized learning and that can accurately measure and support complex competencies. The next steps involve evaluating the new assessments regarding their psychometric properties and support of learning. Lay Description What is currently known about computer-based assessment for learning (CBAfL)? Early CBAfL systems were divided into linear and branching programs with no diagnostics and evolved into systems possessing more personalized/adaptive remediation with AI., Current CBAfL can support a range of competencies in various digital environments., Advanced learning analytic methods include learning analytics and stealth assessment., What our paper adds to what is already known about CBA for learning? Trends in our review suggest CBAs will improve in personalizing learning in a variety of contexts., Innovative CBAfL techniques will move beyond the laboratory and into the mainstream., Boundaries between instruction, learning and assessment will eventually become blurred, thus removing the need for high-stake tests of learning., What are the implications of our topic for practitioners? With CBAfL advances, teachers will have more time to provide targeted support to learners., Students would not need to worry about taking exams if CBAfL is continuous and formative., Educators will be able to provide personalized learning experiences for diverse students., Students will be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on some data on the effects of screen-based interactivity on children's engagement with storybook apps during family shared book reading that were gathered in a 2-year, small-scale ethnographic case study in Spain. Data analysis focuses on the complex interplay between the storybook app's interactive features and the children's responses to them. Our findings show that interactive elements increase the child's autonomy, as they tend to promote the importance of the reader, positioning him or her as a collaborator, storyteller, an author or an internal character in the fiction; something that can materialise in exciting narrative strategies that can trigger powerful responses to digital literary texts in emergent readers, including playing, creating new fictions or engaging emotionally with the story. Finally, we argue that the Reader Response models that have been used over recent decades to understand children's reading experiences with storybooks need to be revised to better understand their current experiences with interactive texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As school networks get more available, reading instruction in a computer classroom has become more and more popular in China. Although information and communication technology (ICT) has brought about some improvements in classroom teaching, it must be admitted that the phenomenon of fast reading with low-level cognitions is threatening school children's reading literacy. In order to address this problem, a collaborative annotation tool called Sharing Unique Reading Feeling (SURF) was developed for creating and sharing annotations. This study explored SURF-based collaborative reading instruction, and investigated the effect of collaborative annotation supported by SURF on primary school students' Chinese reading levels with methods of equal group experiment, interview and comparative analysis. Finally, some suggestions were proposed for the development of instructional annotation tools and the implementation of current reading instruction especially in computer classrooms. Results showed that the collaborative annotation supported by SURF could promote students' reading performance, enhance their Chinese reading levels in primary schools, and it was also helpful to develop the higher-level cognitive abilities such as analyzing, summarizing and evaluating. Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic Annotation could improve students' reading and writing., Annotation could enhance reading comprehension., Full annotation sharing could improve learning outcome., Reading passages with hypermedia annotations significantly benefited passage comprehension and vocabulary., What this paper adds Collaborative annotation could enhance Chinese reading levels in primary schools of China, and is very helpful in addressing the issue of surface reading in Chinese class., Collaborative annotation is also helpful to develop higher-level cognitive abilities such as analyzing, summarizing and evaluating., Implications for practice and/or policy Collaborative reading assisted by annotation tool should be given profound attention and be applied more generally., Collaboration is rather significant in developing students' reading literacy, but abuse of collaboration will be a waste of time and will not get good effect., Do not lose the dominant role of teachers, because excessive freedom for students will result in failure in achieving teaching objectives., Some competition activities (eg, setting up Reading Stars, giving little and red flowers) should be provided to inspire students to do annotating passionately and seriously., The Ministry of Education in China should actively encourage Chinese teachers in primary and secondary schools to implement annotation reading instruction in computer classrooms., Some wonderful annotation tools just like SURF should be developed and generalized in a larger scope supported by the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a critical analysis of the paper "Testing the effect of kinesthetic training on handwriting performance in first-grade students" in the form of a critically appraised paper. The paper is aimed to address problems levied at past kinesthetic research. According to the author, kinesthetic training was no more effective than handwriting practice or no treatment in improving kinesthesis or handwriting speed and legibility in grade-one students.