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Educational computer games have been widely employed to facilitate students' learning. Studies have pointed out that these games may improve students' learning effectiveness when they are equipped with appropriate learning strategies. However, the role of learning strategies in students' acceptance of educational computer games has received surprisingly little scholarly attention. Hence, this research proposed two learning scenarios to address this question. Students in the first scenario were offered an educational computer game with a learning strategy, while those in the second were offered the same game without the strategy. A quasi-experimental design with a research model was constructed to examine the role of learning strategies in students' acceptance of the given game. In this study, 65 students participated in the two learning scenarios. Two research findings are presented: (1) the adoption of the learning strategy not only affected students' acceptance of the game, but also made their perceived ease of use significantly influence their perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, and attitude towards using; (2) with or without the learning strategy, perceived enjoyment was the most important factor that affected students' acceptance of the game, while perceived usefulness, attitude towards using, and perceived control exerted no influence on this issue.

Web-based self-learning (WBSL) provides learners with a powerful means of acquiring knowledge. However, WBSL may disorient learners, especially when their skills are inadequate for regulating their learning. In this paper, a Web 2.0 self-regulated learning (Web2SRL) system based on the theory of self-regulated learning is proposed. Learners use the Web2SRL system to read articles in RSS feeds from blogs of interest. The Web2SRL system provides learners with mechanisms for regulating their learning, including planning, practice, and reflection. The results of pre- and post-tests show that the Web2SRL system supports knowledge acquisition in WBSL contexts, especially for low-achieving learners. The results of a questionnaire indicate that learners perceive the Web2SRL system to be useful in supporting WBSL. The proposed system can thus play an important role in supporting WBSL. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.)

The learning of plants has garnered considerable attention in recent years, but students often lack the motivation to learn about the process of plant growth. Also, students are not able to apply what they have learned in class in the form of observation, since plant growth takes a long time. In this study, we use augmented reality (AR) technology to develop the ARFlora system, which can assist students in observing the changes in plant growth while in the classroom. More specifically, students are able to use AR markers to manipulate various virtual objects (e.g. sunlight) and observe the changes they have on plant growth. Meanwhile, a quasi-experimental evaluation is in place to substantiate the effectiveness of ARFlora in the learning of plants and to compare it with digital video learning. In the quasi-experimental design, 55 elementary-school students participated in the study. The participants are divided into two groups, an "experimental group" and a "control group." The experimental group was taught using the ARFlora system, while the control group was taught by employing the digital video. Results show that (1) ARFlora and digital video have the same effectiveness on student's learning outcomes; (2) ARFlora is more effective in helping students retain learned knowledge; and (3) ARFlora is comparatively more useful in motivating students to learn about plants.

Face-to-face computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) was used extensively to facilitate learning in classrooms. Cloud services not only allow a single user to edit a document, but they also enable multiple users to simultaneously edit a shared document. However, few researchers have compared student acceptance of such services in face-to-face CSCL between the single-user mode and the multi-user mode so as to explore which one is accepted by students more readily. Our findings indicate that students prefer to use the multi-user mode and further reveal that when the multi-user mode is used in face-to-face CSCL, (1) social influence plays a vital role related to students' intention to use; (2) training and problem-solving assistance are helpful to familiarise students; (3) strategies for students engaging in the multi-user mode should be considered, otherwise each student has the authority to edit the shared file, which leads to it being difficult to reach a consensus.

The use of collaborative technologies in learning has received considerable attention in recent years, but few studies to date have examined the factors that affect sequential and global learners' intention to use such technologies. Previous studies have shown that the learners of different learning styles have different needs for educational technologies. Accordingly, understanding the factors that affect the different types of learners' intention to use collaborative technologies is an important issue. To this end, we add two external variables, facilitating conditions and social influence, to the technology acceptance model and then testing a number of hypotheses. Our results show that most of the hypotheses are supported, and further reveal that (1) attitude towards using is the most important determinant of students' intention to use a collaborative technology, followed by social influence and facilitating conditions; (2) sequential learners are more concerned about perceived usefulness; (3) global learners are more concerned about perceived ease of use.

Flipped civic education has attracted many educators' attention, because it can be employed to increase students' interest in learning civic literacy. However, very few researches investigated students' continuance intention to participate in flipped civic education. It is a truly important issue since flipped civic education can be more effectively applied and developed if the factors behind students' continuance intention can be identified. Therefore, in order to identify these key factors, this study adopted social cognitive theory to devise a research model. The research findings showed that social interaction ties occupy a dominant role in affecting students' continuous participation in flipped civic education through hedonic and utilitarian outcome expectations. The results suggested that fostering the collaborative activities like debates or discussions is the top priority for teachers who want to promote students' engagement in flipped civic education, because it will help students construct knowledge and experience pleasure from interpersonal interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desktop services have been widely used among educational institutions, because they enable students to learn anywhere and anytime via the Internet. Students can learn by using the paid software pre-installed on the virtual desktop without limitations. However, the factors behind students' continued use of desktop services have received surprisingly little attention, which may be detrimental to the promotion of such services. Previous studies have shown that students' acceptance of a given educational technology does not necessarily lead to their continued use of it. Hence, this study developed a model based on expectation-confirmation and social influence. The former serves as the internal factor behind students' continued use of desktop services, while the latter external. From the data collected from 167 sophomores using a questionnaire, the findings indicate that (1) the external factor (e.g. the teacher's opinion) of the desktop service exerted a more significant influence than the internal one (e.g. satisfaction) did on the subjects' continued use; (2) subjective norm (i.e. the teacher's opinion) was the sole source of the external influence on the subjects' continued use, and the subjective norm was affected by social identity and group norms; and (3) satisfaction wielded the strongest internal influence on the subjects' continued use, and the degree of satisfaction was determined by effort- and performance-expectancy. These findings revealed an implication for the promotion of desktop services, namely, it was not so much the merits and drawbacks of such service as the teacher's opinion that played a decisive role in the subjects' continued use. • We examined the factors behind students' continued use of desktop services. • Subjective norm exerted the sole exogenous influence on continued use. • Satisfaction wielded the strongest endogenous influence on continued use. • Continued use was particularly subject to exogenous influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud services have been widely used in education in recent years. However, the factors that determine students' continuance intention to use such services have received surprisingly little scholarly attention. Previous studies have shown that students may discontinue using a specific technology even if they have initially accepted it. Therefore, this research seeks to identify what factors may influence students' continuance intention to use cloud services. This research not only developed a research model by incorporating social and technological factors but also tested a series of hypotheses derived from the model. Our research findings suggest that (1) attitude toward using is the most important factor behind students' continuance intention to use cloud services; (2) social presence is the most significant factor that directly influences students' attitude toward using cloud services; (3) perceived ease of use plays a more important role than perceived usefulness in influencing students' attitude toward using cloud services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English vocabulary learning and ubiquitous learning have separately received considerable attention in recent years. However, research on English vocabulary learning in ubiquitous learning contexts has been less studied. In this study, we develop a ubiquitous English vocabulary learning (UEVL) system to assist students in experiencing a systematic vocabulary learning process in which ubiquitous technology is used to develop the system, and video clips are used as the material. Afterward, the technology acceptance model and partial least squares approach are used to explore students’ perspectives on the UEVL system. The results indicate that (1) both the system characteristics and the material characteristics of the UEVL system positively and significantly influence the perspectives of all students on the system; (2) the active students are interested in perceived usefulness; (3) the passive students are interested in perceived ease of use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Social mindtools are cloud-based and visual thinking-oriented tools capable of facilitating synchronous collaboration. Such services have been widely applied to enhancing students' collaborative learning. However, students' continuance intention to use these services has received little scholarly attention. To remedy this limitation, we employed a social mindtool to support participants' collaborative learning regarding game design, and developed a research model as a means to examine their continuance intention to use it. In this model, social support and social influence had direct effects on continuance intention, while perceived synchronicity affected the latter indirectly. Our research findings suggest that social influence exerted the most significant and direct influence on continuance intention, while perceived synchronicity, having a critical role though, had indirect impact on continuance intention via social support and social influence. These results imply that the synchronicity social mindtools offer (e.g., seeing others' action in real time and receiving others' prompt assistance) will affect students' interactions when the tools are applied to students' collaborative learning, which will further impact on students' continuance intention to use the tools, and peer opinions will be most valued. • We examined the factors behind students' continued use of social mindtools. • Social influence exerted the most significant influence on continued use. • Perceived synchronicity wielded the indirect impact on continuance intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]