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Understanding the obstacles and causes students faced while learning with new technologies is the key to inform effective instructional designs. To achieve this aim, this study conducted a qualitative video analysis on language learners' observable behaviors when they took part in learning activities supported by the technology of robots and IoT-based tangible objects. Insightful findings and instructional implications emerge from the attempt to explore learners' learning process in terms of the obstacles learners encountered and the causes of the obstacles. Based on the findings and implications, eight instructional guidelines are proposed for teachers/instructional designers to design effective language learning activities with robots and IoT-based tangible objects. This study contributes to the literature on enhancing learning and teaching by integrating educational robots and IoT-based tangible objects in the field of robot assisted language learning (RALL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing bandwidth, videos have been gradually used as submissions for online peer assessment activities. However, their transient nature imposes a high cognitive load on students, particularly lowability students. Therefore, reviewers' ability is a key factor that may affect the reviewing process and performance in an online video peer assessment activity. This study examined how reviewers' ability affected the comments they provided and their reviewing behaviors and performance. Thirty-eight first-year undergraduate students participated in an online video peer assessment activity for 3 weeks. This study analyzed data collected from the teacher's and peer reviewers' ratings, comments provided by peer reviewers, and system logs. Several findings are significant. First, low-ability reviewers preferred to rate higher scores than high-ability reviewers did. Second, low-ability reviewers had higher review errors than high-ability reviewers. Third, highability reviewers provided more high-level comments, while low-ability reviewers provided more low-level comments. Finally, low- and high-ability reviewers showed different behavior patterns when reviewing peers' videos. In particular, low-ability reviewers invested more time and effort in understanding video content, while high-ability reviewers invested more time and effort in detecting and diagnosing problems. These findings are discussed, and several suggestions for improving the instructional and system design of online video peer assessment activities are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how three auditory lectures delivered at different speeds - normal (1.0x), fast (1.5x) and very fast (3.0x) speeds - affected the graduate students' attention, cognitive load, and learning that were assessed by pre- and post-comprehension tests, cognitive-load questionnaire, and Electroencephalography (EEG) device. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the students' attention, cognitive load, and learning performance between the normal (1.0x) and 1.5x speed. However, when the auditory lecture speed reached three times of its original speed (3.0x), the students' comprehension scores were significantly lower both in the immediate and (one-week) delayed recall tests, than those in the other two speed conditions. When listening to the lecture at the 3.0x speed, the learners had a higher level of attention and cognitive load. The study provided insights for teaching, instructional design, and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Game-based learning (GBL) has been widely recognised in research, and evidently benefited for learners. However, what GBL is perceived by teachers and learners has been a concern that might impact on quality of teaching and learning in the GBL environment. Game-based pedagogy meticulously designed from a teacher's perspective was regarded as harping on the same string without fun by learners. This paper aims to explore games literacy capabilities in supporting teachers to implement GBL that meets learners' needs and expectations. Semi-structured interviews and surveys with experienced teachers of GBL and experts in the relevant field were conducted, followed by an Analytic Hierarchy Process seeking perceptions of a group of academics and researchers. Findings suggested five key capabilities in game literacy required by teachers in implementing GBL. They are (1) basic games literacy, (2) high-level games literacy, (3) instructional design for GBL, (4) organisation and management for GBL, and (S) evaluation of GBL. Amongst the five, instructional design for GBL and high-level games literacy were rated highly impacting on the quality of teaching. Based on the findings, aiming at informing teacher education and professional development, we proposed a framework providing a guidance to improve game-based design and pedagogical practices for teachers in the implementation of GBL in their classrooms. It concludes that teachers' capabilities in games literacy require specific attention to instructional design - that demands a thought-provoking process for GBL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical design projects are a way to motivate and engage students in authentic science and engineering practices. Web-based tools can support design projects to ensure that students address and reflect upon critical science concepts during the course of the project. In addition, by specifying challenging design goals that require students to consider potential trade-offs between features, web-based tools may promote more deliberative scientific inquiry than open-ended or feature maximization goals. To study the role of web-supported projects, we developed an online curriculum that guides students through the planning, building, and analysis of self-propelled vehicles. To address content related to energy transformation we incorporated virtual models that display dynamic graphs of energy levels as a virtual scooter travels along a path. We compared two design goals for the project with different constraints. In the target version students are prompted to build virtual and physical scooters to reach a specific position. In the distance version students are prompted to maximize the distance the scooter travels. Our results indicate that students learned energy concepts from both versions; however, students with the target version did refer to the virtual model in their posttest responses to a greater degree than those with the distance version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the globalization of macro-economic environments, it is important to think about how to use instructional design and web-based digital technologies to enhance students' self-paced learning, stir up learning motivation and enjoyment, build up knowledge-sharing channels, and enhance individual learning. This study experimented with the flipped learning course modules which are grounded in the theory of team-based learning (TBL), in which students participated in the preview activities before class, performed in-class activities, and took part in after-class online discussion via modularized assignments. Two Human Resource Management classes, consisting of 104 students and two professors from two Taiwanese universities, participated in this study. Mixed research methods including surveys and interviews, were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The results show the positive relationships among the students' perceived team members' valuable contributions, motivation, enjoyment, and learning outcomes. The research findings and implications will provide business education faculty, researchers and decisionmakers with ideas and insights on the application of flipped-classroom team-based learning modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical tests involve high risk; therefore utility companies require highly qualified electricians and efficient training. Recently, training for electrical tests has been supported by virtual reality systems; nonetheless, these training systems are not yet adaptive. We propose a b-learning model to support adaptive and distance training. The adaptation is based on a representation of the knowledge and affect of the trainee. One of the main components is an animated pedagogical agent who guides trainees and provides instruction. The agent deploys different facial expressions conveying emotion and empathy to trainees. We incorporated these constructs into the learning model aiming to achieve credibility, social interaction, and user engagement, and thus improve learning. To develop the agent, we included some of the basic characteristics of electricians: work uniform and safety gear, such as helmets, gloves, and glasses, among other features. We believe that by representing the tutor as an electrician, the training environment will be better accepted by operators. The focus of this paper is a study that we conducted to gather knowledge about the expressivity and appearance of the animated agent. The participants evaluated the facial expressions of the agent and stated their point of view regarding the incorporation of the animated agent into the training system. The gathered knowledge is being used to enhance the animated agent before completing its integration to the training environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to design a non-simultaneous distance instruction system with affective computing, which integrates interactive agent technology with the curricular instruction of affective design. The research subjects were 78 students, and prototype assessment and final assessment were adopted to assess the interface and usability of the system. Prototype assessment consisted of heuristic assessment and the system usability scale, while final assessment adopted the triangular cross-validation method: where the questionnaire for user interaction satisfaction, observation, and interviews were used to explore the effect of learning and obtain qualitative and quantitative information for analysis. According to the experimental results, the usability of the non-simultaneous distance instruction system with affective computing was high; the respondents showed highlevel satisfaction regarding interaction with the affective learning system; the training game response mechanism of the system could effectively improve the emotion of learning; there was a significant improvement in the effect of learning based on the affective learning system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As mobile learning technology promotes learning accessibility and flexibility, students benefit from social interactivity and connective learning process which will also foster students' performance and satisfaction on learning content. The primary purpose of this research was to evaluate iTunes U courses based on instructional design strategies and the m-learning framework. A total of 27 iTunes U courses were selected and evaluated based on the following criteria: (a) The course is provided by institutions of higher education; (b) the course should include instructional design components. The results revealed that all courses scored notably higher means on Content Chunking and Objective and Content Structure. However, all courses were rated low mean scores on the Instructional Strategies categories of the following attributes: Learning Engagement, Feedback, and Evaluation. Moreover, the results revealed that all courses scored notably higher means on one of the m-learning framework which is Customisation and were rated low mean scores on the Conversation attribute. The overall conclusion of this study is that the selected iTunes U courses showed some strengths but considerable weaknesses in meeting the instructional design strategies and m-learning framework. Recommendations are provided for turning mundane courses into dynamic, user-friendly ones where students are excited about their learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explored the nature of informal learning in professional instructional designers' everyday work activities. Based on intensive interviews with six full-time practitioners, and using a hermeneutic form of data analysis, this study produced seven themes concerning the practices, tensions, and ironies associated with this largely unexplored aspect of instructional design. Specific themes concerned the resources, significance, and outcomes of informal learning, in addition to professional tensions and ironies (e.g., the observation that informal learning simultaneously fosters professional survival and professional vulnerability). Implications are discussed, such as how informal learning among professionals can be facilitated via organizational support and more practically-oriented scholarly work, as well as designers' own efforts to pursue informal learning in the midst of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive load theory is an instructional theory that uses our knowledge of human cognitive architecture, especially processing limitations of working memory, to enhance effectiveness of instructional design. This paper reviews main assumptions and principles of cognitive load theory and discusses their application to technology-based learning environments. The paper concludes with a brief introduction to the structure and content of this Special Issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic writing, whether individual or cooperative, is an essential skill for today's graduates. However, motivating and helping students to learn to write effectively, either in cooperative or individual scenarios, poses many challenges, many of which can be overcome by technical means. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of using cooperative and individual weblogs to enhance writing performance, based on blended instructional design. An equally weighted sequential quantitative-qualitative (two-stage) mixed research design was used for this study. In the quantitative dimension, the "pretest-posttest control group design" that was applied as an experimental study was used. In the qualitative dimension, the views of students in the experimental group were examined as a "case study." Twenty-one 5th grade students participated in the study, 12 in the experimental group, and 9 in the control group. While the experimental group worked on a cooperative weblog, the control group worked on an individual weblog. A writing performance exam was applied as pretest-posttest. Exam papers were scored with a writing performance evaluation scale. Results of the quantitative dimension indicated a statistically significant difference between the writing performance of students in the experimental and control groups in favor of the control group. When the sub-skills of students' writing performance was examined on the posttest scores of the "ideas & content dimension," a statistically significant difference was found in favor of the control group, but no significant difference was detected in the "sentence fluency, writing rules and organization" dimensions between the groups. Results of qualitative dimension showed that "feedback" has a positive effect on writing performance, unlike cooperative learning, which has an adverse effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purpose of the study was to investigate team-based e-Learning content development projects from the perspective of the shared mental model (SMM) theory. The researcher conducted a study of 79 e-Learning content development teams in Korea to examine the relationship between taskwork and teamwork SMMs and the performance of the teams. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the parameter estimations. As hypothesized, the results indicated that interaction among e-Learning ID team members led to higher SMMs (Ed- this acronym has already been defined above) which in turn improved the team performance. Meanwhile, the interaction decreased with the progression of ID projects and with the role differentiation. The implications of the findings and directions for instructional design (ID) practices are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a framework for promoting creative design capabilities in the context of achieving community goals pertaining to sustainable development among high school students. The framework can be used as a reference model to design formal or out-of-school curriculum units in any geographical region. This theme is chosen due to its individual, community and global impact. Learning activities are designed to promote incremental learning of creative reasoning as students iteratively work towards solving environmental goals in their communities. To inculcate thinking from multiple perspectives, students take on a stakeholder role, analyze cases from around the world with similar problems, generate new ideas, predict their counterparts' arguments, evaluate their own arguments based on their counterpart's points of views, and refine their own ideas/arguments corresponding to goals. For adaptation of the curriculum over a variety of communities while maintaining the main structure and the support for learning the science and for learning creative design skills, modularity is adopted in content and the sequencing of strategies and tactics. If practices are beneficial and widely accepted, they can be included as a part of the meta-reference model and instantiated/cascaded into future reference and individual classroom models. We conclude with implications for instructional design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quasi-experimental design was adopted to investigate the effect of integrating technology into mathematics teaching on students' number sense and their learning attitudes. Two sixth-grade classes were selected from an elementary school in Taiwan for participation in this study. The control group with 32 students followed their usual mathematics instruction on number sense without using technology. The experimental group with 32 students learned number sense in a technology-based environment. The ANCOVA results showed a statistically significant difference between the control group and the experimental group on number sense performance. The t- test results showed no significant difference before and after the instruction for the control group. However, there was a statistically significant difference before and after the instruction for the experimental group. Furthermore, data also showed a significant difference in the students' learning attitudes between the control group and the experimental group after the teaching. These results indicated that integrating technology into number sense teaching and learning not only promote students' number sense, but also has a positive effect on attitudes towards learning number sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational Modelling Languages (EMLs) have been proposed to enable the authoring of models of learning units (e.g., courses, lessons, lab practices, seminars) covering the broad variety of pedagogical approaches. In addition, some EMLs have been proposed as computational languages that support the processing of learning unit models by appropriate Learning Management Systems (LMSs). In this context, six years ago, IMS Learning Design (IMS LD) was proposed as a computational EML. IMS LD supports the modelling of learning units to a long extent and it has become the reference EML. Nevertheless, the expressiveness of IMS LD is a hot topic that has been discussed by several authors during the last years. This paper contributes to this discussion by analyzing the modelling of three learning units with IMS LD. These examples are used to show how IMS LD can be used to author models of common learning units, but also to identify some issues where the IMS LD expressiveness needs to be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of effective education and training for learning technologists. It states that the educational and training requirements of Advanced Learning Technology (ALT) must collaborate with curricula that reflects the modified requirements of the workplace and of society. It explores how and when competence perspectives as an aid to understand and manage human resources within the organizations were adopted. It also highlights the development of specifications for curricula in ALT.

Following publications emphasizing the need of a taxonomy for instructional methods, this article presents a literature review on classifications for learning and teaching in order to identify possible classifications for instructional methods. Data was collected for 37 classifications capturing the origins, theoretical underpinnings, purposes and uses, as well as degrees of documentation of these classifications. Using cluster analysis, the classifications were first grouped into three clusters according to their characteristics. A discriminant analysis identified three foci: narrow focus, holistic focus and versatile focus. Second, classifications were estimated whether they fulfill taxonomy validation criteria, which are used to judge classifications' internal consistency, meaningfulness to users, ease of navigation, and comprehensible content division. Only a small number of the reviewed classifications fulfilled more than one of the criteria, with the most criteria fulfilled being three. The article concludes that a classification of instructional methods is still needed as the reviewed classifications do not provide sufficient quality, purpose-related setup, or user orientation. Future classification efforts should involve the users in the development to ensure appropriate language and task orientation of the classification. An approach for performing user-driven development is outlined, and applications in a higher education setting and instructional design software are demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies examined student motivation and satisfaction in Internet-Supported Learning Environments (ISLE) in higher education but none provided a comprehensive analysis of significant methodological and theoretical issues. To contribute toward filling this knowledge gap and then to better inform instructional systems development, practice, and further research, a qualitative review was conducted. The review was guided by these questions: How did ISLE overall impact student motivation and satisfaction? What specific motivation and satisfaction sources were identified? How was motivation measured in ISLE? What research designs were employed to investigate the phenomena? Studies on ISLE published in leading educational technology outlets between 1995 and early 2007 were analyzed. The analysis indicated that technology attributes, course quality, engagement, program format, and support services supported motivation and satisfaction. Studies used task choice, cognitive effort, persistence, skill, and achievement to measure motivation. Survey and experimental designs dominated research on ISLE. Implications for instructional design/system development, practice, and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of instructional design and management style on student achievement and satisfaction in a web-based distance learning environment. From the literature review, two major instructional design and management styles in web-based distance education were conceptualized as structure and interpersonal interaction. To investigate the differences on learning output variables, two web-based instructional programs were developed as college level courses. One course was developed and implemented mainly with a resource-based highly structured self-learning mode with little interpersonal interaction, and the other course was developed and conducted mainly with interpersonal interaction without well-structured materials. Sixty seven and fifty six juniors were enrolled in each course at a cyber university for one semester. Questionnaires, achievement scores, satisfaction levels, and interview data were collected and analyzed. Findings indicated that self-learning with well-structured materials was not inferior to highly interactive instruction without well-structured materials in receptive learning achievement. This implicates that well-structured material can possibly replace a teacher's one to one interaction in receptive learning as early distance educators expected. However, students in the interactive course without well-structured materials, rather than in the well-structured course with little interaction, showed higher achievement in critical thinking learning. In terms of satisfaction, students in the structured course were more satisfied with structure, and students in the interactive course were more satisfied with interpersonal interaction. Implications of these findings and recommendations for further study are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the many studies focusing on the effect of learner and instructional variables on learning outcomes, few studies have investigated the effect of these variables and their mediating mechanisms influencing students' learning within a blended learning environment. This study examined the influence of instructional and learner variables on learning outcomes for a blended instruction course offered for undergraduate students. Data analysis indicated that age, prior experiences with distance learning opportunities, preference in delivery format, and average study time are those learner antecedents differentiating learning outcomes among groups of college students. From a regression analysis, the influence of learner, instructional, and motivational variables on learning outcomes found to be consolidated around one variable in learning application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of studies emphasized the need to capture learners' interaction patterns in order to personalize their learning process as they study through learning objects. In education context, learning materials are designed based on pre-determined expectations and learners are evaluated to what extent they master these expectations. Representation of these expectations in learning and assessment objects, on the other hand, is a new challenge for e-learner providers. In order to address this challenge, POLEonto (Personlized Ontological Learning Environment) proposes a new method to separate these expectations by determining domain concepts (ConceptNet) and cognitive skills (CogSkillNet) for expectations via creating cognitive skill and concept ontology for K-12 education. In this paper, we report only the development and design processes of CogSkillNet within POLEonto environment; and, we further discuss how CogSkillNet can be modeled in the e-learning domain. We also describe how ontological representations play a role in creating personalized navigational guidance for allowing visualization of cognitive skills and providing useful navigational feedback to learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent trends reveal that models of culture aid in mapping the design and analysis of information and communication technologies. Therefore, models of culture are powerful tools to guide the building of instructional products and services. This research examines the construction of the culture based model (CBM), a model of culture that evolved from historical and linguistic analyses of instructional products designed by and for African Americans. The findings extrapolated from the analyses reveal a treasure of cultural remnants. The cultural remnants provide evidence of how culture manifested in the instructional products. This data was further refined and generalized for a cross-cultural audience, resulting in the design factors of CBM. CBM is an intercultural instructional design framework that guides designers through the management, design, development, and assessment process while taking into account explicit culture-based considerations. The structure of CBM is presented and some ideas on its practical application are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exists an increasingly attractive lure of using virtual reality applications for teaching in all areas of education, but perhaps the largest detriment to its use is the intimidating nature of VR technology for nontechnical instructors. What are the challenges to using VR technology for the design and development of VR-based instructional activities, and what are the recommended approaches? This paper addresses the issues regarding identifying the appropriate techniques for integrating VR into traditional instructional design, and the considerations for development for non-technical educators. Recommendations are grounded within our own project involving virtual anesthesia. The discussion considers budgetary limitations, funding, and other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 3D virtually synchronous communication architecture for situated language learning has been designed to foster communicative competence among undergraduate students who have studied English as a foreign language (EFL). We present an innovative approach that offers better e-learning than the previous virtual reality educational applications. The proposed method supplies learners with autonomy in virtual communications, allowing learners to achieve a variety of shared goals. The traditional text-based or web-based virtual reality systems are generally less attractive to students because of their lack of 3D immersion and realtime voice interaction. Three-D virtual reality technology can be exploited to compensate these weaknesses. We propose an immersive and interactive virtual English classroom, entitled VEC3D, that integrates a goal-based instructional design, vivid 3D graphics, and real-time voice communication. The ultimate goal of the VEC3D project is to enhance learners' English communicative competence. This research determines how learners perceive their experiences in the virtual space and use communication strategies (CSs) in the process of advancing communicative competence. The recent ethnographic study results revealed that the proposed application promoted positive student attitude and interactive learning experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distance Educational Practice is today supported by a range of information systems (IS) design theories. Still, there are surprisingly few strong pedagogical ideas and constructs that are communicated across distance educational institutions. Instead it is often the technology, the software and the medium that is at the centre of attention as we frequently discuss notions such as learning management systems, courseware, chat room, streaming media and blogs. This paper argues that design concepts should be used to bridge the gap between design theories and distance educational practice. It is also argued that genre theory could be instrumental in framing the characteristics of such techno-pedagogical genres in a way that constitutes a powerful level of communicating and disseminating new ideas within and across educational communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Norwegian DoCTA and DoCTA NSS projects we aimed to bring a theoretical perspective to the design of ICT-mediated learning environments that support the sociocultural aspects of human interaction and to evaluate their use. By taking a sociocultural perspective on learning activity focussing on the interpersonal social interaction in collaborative learning settings we contribute to knowledge about the pedagogical design of network based learning scenarios, the technological design of the learning environment to support these learning scenarios, and the organisational design for management of such learning environments. Through various empirical studies we improved our understanding of the pedagogy and technology of networked learners, and increased our understanding of learner activity. This paper reports on the VisArt artefact design scenario and the gen-etikk collaborative knowledge building scenario focusing on their design and use. Both scenarios comprised co-located and distributed students collaborating over the Internet during a 3-4 week period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It seems a foregone conclusion that repositories for reusable learning objects (RLOs), based on common standards and supported by suitable search facilities, will foster a global economic market in the production of RLOs. Actual reuse will support producers of high-quality RLOs, and other producers will be unable to compete, i.e. competition within the market will implicitly define the qualities that are needed. This paper challenges the suggestion that this will occur. If the marked is defined as cost versus value, then the set of qualities that distinguishes RLOs from other educational software prohibits the development scalable search engines to search the repositories. At a more sophisticated level of market analysis, it is the needs of the producers, rather than the purchasers, that will define quality in the market. Any attempt to limit this imbalance will, paradoxically, require acceptance of alternative constraints that many may find hard to accept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the correlation between the quality of instructional design and learning outcomes for early childhood students in the online synchronous cyber classroom. Today's generation of e-learners has access to highly engaging and well-designed multi-media synchronous classrooms. However little data exists on what constitutes 'good practice' in instructional design for online synchronous cyber lessons. The synchronous cyber classroom outperforms all other modes of instruction in enabling students to simultaneously integrate visual, auditory and kinaesthetic processes. The online synchronous cyber classroom provides learners with more authentic and engaging learning activities enabling higher levels of learning compared to purely asynchronous modes of self-paced learning. During 2001-2007 a group of students aged 5 to 8 years collaborated with their teacher at Brisbane School of Distance Education, Australia in a trial of online synchronous learning. The trial identified 'best practice' in the instructional design of synchronous lessons delivered through the Collaborative Cyber Community (3C) learning platform at the National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan. A guideline for 'best practice' in the instructional design of online synchronous cyber lessons for early childhood students has been developed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ontologies have the potential to play an important role in instructional design and the development of course content. They can be used to represent knowledge about content, supporting instructors in creating content or learners in accessing content in a knowledge-guided way. While ontologies exist for many subject domains, their quality and suitability for the educational context might be unclear. For numerous subjects, ontologies do not exist. We present a method for domain experts rather than ontology engineers to develop ontologies for use in the delivery of courseware content. We will focus in particular on relationship types that allow us to model rich domains adequately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational modelling is the modelling of educational [sub-] systems. Such a model is a framework containing important concepts, processes and relations. Several models have been published but their development, which we call educational modelling, still is a tedious process. We lack clear guidelines or a methodology. In this article we present a case study in which we take first steps towards the development of a methodology for educational modelling. We do so by analysing our current practice that we typify as expert-driven, model centred and consensus-based. We explicate the assumptions under this approach and investigate whether these assumptions are explicit and confirmed by our case study. The results give rise to a number of guidelines that can be used by future projects and that provide a first step towards a more systematic approach to educational modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the fading monopoly of the industrial mode of production and the emergence of the "information revolution," modern technology has pervaded almost every aspect of human life. In education, however, information technology has yet to find a place, despite the unceasing attempts to "fit" it into the existing educational system. The paper argues that the industrial mode of production was successful in inventing "education" as a new paradigm, institutionalizing it in schools, and implementing it through a number of tools, such as "certified" teachers, curricula, and textbooks. By contrast, the information mode of production has created the tools, namely "educational technology," before developing a corresponding paradigm or institution. This crisis of educational technology is therefore a corollary of its misplacement, and subsequent malfunction, in the still-in-use industrial paradigm and institution (education and school). The paper suggests that, in order to ensure a proper functionality of modern technology, we need to resolve this theoretical inadequacy. A possible solution would be to thoroughly restructure "education" and schools, as remnants of the industrial age, into a new paradigm and institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although wireless and mobile technology is regarded as a useful tool for enhancing student-centered learning, few studies have explored the factors that may affect the application of this emerging technology in classroom situations. Accordingly, this study selects three factors (instructional belief, instructional routine, and features of wireless and mobile technology) via literature review, then utilizes a case-study method with a focus class and teacher to explore the effects of these factors on teaching in wireless environments. The main study results are summarized as follows: first, the case teacher held positive beliefs regarding student-centered instruction and innovative technology, but the teacher's instructional practices were significantly restricted by the teacher-centered approach. This inconsistency between instructional beliefs and practices resulted in the teacher being willing to apply wireless technology but unable to bring it into full play. Second, the strong stress and misgivings about changes in instructional methods prevented the teacher from altering instructional routines. The contrast between student expectations regarding technological applications and the practical application of technology by teachers caused negative reciprocal effects. Finally, the workshop that adopted top-down dissemination and did not use on-site support in this study cannot encourage changes in instruction methods used by teachers. It is recommended that effective learning communities and teacher development programs be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personalized adaptive learning requires semantic-based and context-aware systems to manage the Web knowledge efficiently as well as to achieve semantic interoperability between heterogeneous information resources and services. The technological and conceptual differences can be bridged either by means of standards or via approaches based on the Semantic Web. This article deals with the issue of semantic interoperability of educational contents on the Web by considering the integration of learning standards, Semantic Web, and adaptive technologies to meet the requirements of learners. Discussion is m ade on the state of the art and the main challenges in this field, including metadata access and design issues relating to adaptive learning. Additionally, a way how to integrate several original approaches is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on future of tools of IMS learning design (LD). It states that those who use LD in educational setting are not interested in knowing specifications of IMS LD as this knowledge is required to use tools, which raises the question of its development for generic users or specialists. It mentions that LD is considered suitable for education purposes like distance education in which learning activities are pre-planned. It highlights that authoring tools can be improved by including educators in tests of various tools. It suggests that tools should be kept suitable for those who are trained in instructional design, specially application of LD.

Instructional designers are expected to be familiar with the epistemological underpinnings of several theories and their consequences on the process of instruction. Constructivism is the dominant theory of the last decade and supports construction of knowledge by the individual. This paper discusses the basic principles underlying constructivism, particularly active, collaborative and authentic learning. Application of these principles on the process -- analysis, development, evaluation -- of instructional design poses certain challenges with regards to issues such as pre-specification of knowledge, authentic evaluation and learner control. Most of the problems are attributed to the fact that constructivism is a learning theory and not an instructional-design theory. Therefore, instructional designers must attempt to translate constructivism into instructional design through a more pragmatic approach that focuses on the principles of moderate -- rather than extreme -- constructivism and makes use of emergent technology tools. This shift could facilitate the development of more situated, experiential, meaningful and cost-effective learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]