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The dramatic growth in the use of mobile devices across different environments and fields has contributed significantly to mobile learning (mLearning). Students have benefitted through the multimedia features of mobiles and can utilize emerging technologies with their mobile devices for learning purposes. Despite the relevance of mobile learning in formal and informal learning environments, it seems to be less explored in Nigeria. Research has shown that teachers play a significant role in adopting any technology in the classroom, so it is essential to probe into preparedness related to the adoption in the classroom. The paper examines the preparedness of preservice and in-service teachers to use mobile devices in their classrooms using an online survey on mobile learning readiness and technology adoption stages. Quantitative data revealed that teachers are willing to adopt mLearning, and rate themselves above average on the technology adoption stage; however, a few factors like an unsupportive curriculum and lack of infrastructure are causing its setback. The research recommends that more awareness be raised to promote its adoption, create a supportive curriculum and provide the needed infrastructure in the classroom to support its use.

Open pedagogy has been touted by advocates as a promising expansion of open educational resources because it involves shifting from making resources accessible to impacting the practice of teaching. The allure of the term coupled with its promise to bring greater innovation to pedagogy has led to its widespread use at conferences and publications. However, as the concept has gained increasing levels of popularity, it has also sparked considerable debate as to what it means. For example, how is open pedagogy distinct from other forms of pedagogy such as critical or cultural? What does it mean to practice open pedagogy? Without a clear understanding of its meaning, establishing a solid research foundation on which to make claims about the impact of open pedagogy approaches is difficult. Accordingly, this article argues that the current debate signals the need for the development of robust analytical frameworks in order to construct a cohesive body of research that can be used to advance it as a field of study. To do this, the authors review the literature and identify common characteristics within it. The authors then propose a five-part framework that encourages the long-term sustainability of open pedagogy.

A growing number of educators and organizations using Open Educational Resources (OER) around the world have created training models to support educators on how to use and implement OER. Training ranges from webinars, online classrooms, and face-to-face workshops to equip individuals on OER use and promote its adoption. While this approach may be necessary, it is wrought with concerns and challenges. For example, training can be expensive, and the quality of training can be questionable when there is no oversight or standards regarding the question of quality and when the material is not correctly updated. Since training has been shown as essential to the adoption process, it is necessary to look at how this process is achieved. This article explores the use of the Training of Trainers Model (ToT) model, which is used in various disciplines to drive adoption. Using a systematic literature review (SLR) that provides real-life experiments on how the model has been implemented, the article makes the case that the ToT model must be implemented across institutions to drive the diffusion of OER. The contribution of this research is to guide how to implement the ToT model, particularly in higher education, to educators, administrators, librarians, and OER scholars interested in training others.

Uncertain times require prompt reflexes to survive and this study is a collaborative reflex to better understand uncertainty and navigate through it. The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic hit hard and interrupted many dimensions of our lives, particularly education. As a response to interruption of education due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this study is a collaborative reaction that narrates the overall view, reflections from the K12 and higher educational landscape, lessons learned and suggestions from a total of 31 countries across the world with a representation of 62.7% of the whole world population. In addition to the value of each case by country, the synthesis of this research suggests that the current practices can be defined as emergency remote education and this practice is different from planned practices such as distance education, online learning or other derivations. Above all, this study points out how social injustice, inequity and the digital divide have been exacerbated during the pandemic and need unique and targeted measures if they are to be addressed. While there are support communities and mechanisms, parents are overburdened between regular daily/professional duties and emerging educational roles, and all parties are experiencing trauma, psychological pressure and anxiety to various degrees, which necessitates a pedagogy of care, affection and empathy. In terms of educational processes, the interruption of education signifies the importance of openness in education and highlights issues that should be taken into consideration such as using alternative assessment and evaluation methods as well as concerns about surveillance, ethics, and data privacy resulting from nearly exclusive dependency on online solutions.

This study addresses the question of how to facilitate instruction and practice with virtual reality to mitigate the detrimental impact of cognitive load associated with use in simple procedural tasks. The study collected data from 63 college students aged 18 years and above from a university in the southern part of the USA. Each study participant completed a questionnaire that consisted of 22 questions using a seven-point Likert scale. The results show that there are no significant differences between motivation and self-efficacy as it relates to three selected activities: Roboraid, Tutorial and Freeplay. The opportunity for meaningful learning through the use of the mixed reality is enticing; there is value in exploring facilitation of these learning opportunities through redistribution of cognitive load.

This study presents an ethnographic account of the learning design experiences of six Namibian teachers during school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study explores the emotions, perspectives and actions of these teachers and also reveals the influence of personal, institutional and national culture on their learning design decisions, processes and outcomes. This exploration is important because it surfaces and highlights teacher experiences with learning design that can be used to influence practice and policy in future emergency situations. Data were collected using a variety of educational ethnographic techniques including artefacts, formal and informal interviews, and stimulated recall from video presentations. Five knowledge criteria were identified around the learning design and innovative processes of emergency remote teaching. These knowledge criterion include the Professional and School Context, Emotions of the participants at the time; Perspectives and actions to meet the Challenge; Process and Preparations for Remote teaching; Learning Design Context-based Decisions (including the processes used; the outcomes, and teaching artefacts). Results indicate that the school situation and context influenced the appropriate learning design materials. Furthermore, results showed that lack of infrastructure, access and connectivity as well as teacher ICT confidence and competency affected the decision making in learning design. Most of all, fear of being infected by SARS CoV-2 and fear for one's life gripped teachers such that they were unable to fully engage in problem-solving for designing appropriate learning materials for learners.

For P-12 teachers to effectively learn a technology, they must manage the cognitive load inherent to this learning task. However, technology adoption research has not investigated effects of cognitive load on teachers' experiences with learning technology or their technology adoption decisions. Hence, an instrument measuring cognitive load experienced when P-12 teachers learn about technology during professional development and their intent to adopt the technology may not be available. The purpose of this study was to design a self-report survey instrument measuring P-12 teachers' cognitive load during technology professional development and their intent to adopt technology. Diffusion of innovations and cognitive load theory formed the theoretical foundation of the instrument's design. Using data collected from P-12 teachers participating in technology professional development, the researcher conducted exploratory factor analysis to explore the factor model most representative of the data and to determine the instrument's internal consistency and variance explained.

The physical classroom remains the one constant space where most schooling takes place and where everyday Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) practices in formal educational settings occur. While educational advocates have championed the need for a change to schooling, pedagogy and various teaching and learning practices, the learning environment where these activities are taking place especially at the university level remain the same year after year, creating challenges for those attempting to implement CSCL. In this paper we argue that we cannot improve learning without looking at how the physical classroom space and furniture layout is designed and its impact on learning. Given that the CSCL research emphasizes social interactions, collaboration and knowledge growth, all of which should be occurring in the classroom, it seems appropriate to look at classroom space and changing pedagogies.

The development of technological solutions often consists of a small group of experts selecting the type of technology and how it is to be used, regardless of the culture of the user. This practice excludes practitioners from the decision-making process, and can lead to frustrations and an unsustainable community of practice. This paper addresses the problem of selecting and developing appropriate technologies to advance best practices through communities of practice for teachers in the lower grades in Namibia. Considering cultural norms and practices common to Namibians and applying it to a technological solution of a virtual forum, reduces the feeling of technology inadequacy and the desire to be part of a "meeting of the elders." Consultative meetings with teachers in our sample group resulted in data on the technology use of lower primary school teachers. Results indicate that, even with an appropriate choice of a technological solution, coordination or leadership is essential for success. The cultural notion investigated in this paper is related to, and may be dependent upon, the headman/chief model of providing active leadership by continually pulling the "meetings" together, consistent with the cultural norms of participants.

Copyright of International Journal of African Higher Education is the property of International Network for Higher Education in Africa (INHEA) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article focuses on individuals emerging from traditional oral cultures with limited education and few economic resources who use mobile telephones to maintain their writing and communication skills, despite the scarcity of reading materials, or a lack of social, economic, political, and cultural incentives. Drawing on two case studies--one of previously disenfranchized citizens participating in a national dialogue in Namibia and one of entrepreneurial women in Tanzania--the authors examine postliteracy practices in adults' everyday lives, probe these innovative uses of mobile applications, and thus aim to understand the context of the mobile literacy environment. They find that for individuals with limited literacy skills, these phones and applications can offer a vital resource for postliteracy practices, one that gives them a better chance of maintaining and enhancing their previously acquired literacy skills.

A design-based project grounded in learning technology theories and systematically implemented can impact environmental education in many positive ways. This paper explores the systematic application of best practices from design-based projects that were used to combine and implement a drought education program. Embracing diffusion of innovation as its framework, augmented and virtual reality applications were used to design a virtual meeting space called the Virtual Citizen Science Expo. The results and findings show that users found Mozilla Hubs engaging as it gave them new ideas on the creative and inspirational use of virtual reality technology as an interactive and collaborative learning space. The discussions demonstrate that our VCSE can be used to promote and engage learners in science related to environmental monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Erzincan University Journal of Education Faculty / Erzincan Üniversitesi Egitim Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Erzincan University Faculty of Education Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Studies investigating the representation of Africans and other ethnicities are scarce in video game literature. Using a content analysis approach, this paper examines Africans' representation in ten of the most popular games of 2014 in the United States based on industry market research reports. The findings show that Africans are underrepresented in video games explored in this study. The study also reveals that African characters in these games did not play leading roles in the storyline. Results are discussed as they pertain to Africans' representation in video games, media effect, and media literature. This exploratory study broadens the discussion on representation in video games to other ethnicities and shows the need for studies on representation in contemporary video games that include understudied ethnicities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the emerging culture, learning and technology categories, the pitfalls of technology designing for mainstream use, and the effects of technology research in culturally diverse classroom.

Teacher activism is increasingly occurring in online spaces, but the implications for educators are unclear. The authors use the recent Oklahoma Teachers Walkout and the active #OklaEd network to offer an illustrative example of the power and fragility of socially networked teacher movements. They offer eight lessons educators may take from the #OklaEd network and the walkout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the design ecosystem, culture is often ignored or relegated to the periphery, perhaps because some see it as a concept that is hard to explain or completely capture. To contribute to a new direction, our paper presents a portion of an on-going study integrating and recognizing culture in the design process. We argue that the “next’” focus of design should be an inclusion of culture into design practices; an inclusion that is merged into every stage instead of being treated as an afterthought – most notably, during the evaluation stage. There exist numerous models and guides exploring the role of culture in learning design of which designers involved in the learning can and should be aware. In this paper we aim to review and present these models as a beginning place for those interested in designing for cross-cultural education ecosystems and programs intended to support learning needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the implication of iPad, a tablet computer from Apple Inc., to education in Namibia. It notes and evaluates the varied reactions of the students which propose the challenge towards the country's electricity and Internet connectivity. It emphasizes the underlying concern on the adaptation of new technologies to various areas in a manner that is contextually appropriate.