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Previous studies on Virtual Reality (VR)-enriched learning pointed out the advantages of immersive learning for the development of competencies. In the context of vocational education in vehicle painting, training opportunities are severely limited for many reasons. VR can be utilized to develop a comprehensive learning environment with authentic training tasks. Besides the need to train psychomotor skills, vehicle painting procedures are complex tasks requiring incremental training to develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This study aims to evaluate a VR training application for vehicle painting, focusing on the development of professional competencies regarding skills, knowledge, and attitudes. 47 apprentices participated in the evaluation study. A VR-simulated painting booth was developed based on the 4 C/ID model by van Merriënboer, where they dealt with typical painting jobs on 3D workpieces (e.g., car wings, engine hood). Within the descriptive-inferential study, no significant differences between the types of competencies were revealed. The training application supports the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and attitudes equally. Further results regarding usability, cognitive load, etc., are promising. The essential finding of this study is that the VR training application is generally suitable for supporting craftsmanship within the field of vehicle painting. Since training opportunities for apprentices in this context are often rare, VR offers a unique solution especially for skills training if it follows a proven instructional model for the development of competencies.

Metacognitive activities are reported to improve learning but prompts to support metacognition have only been investigated with mixed results. In the present study, metacognitive prompts for confidence judgments were implemented in a learning platform to provide more insights into their effectiveness and their limits. Comparing the prompted group (n = 51) with the control (n = 150), no benefits of the prompts are seen: Performance is not better with prompts, and there is no improvement in metacognitive accuracy over time within the prompted group. Notably, half of the prompted group did not use the metacognitive prompts as intended. Alternative ways to integrate such prompts are discussed.

Despite widespread efforts to promote Open Educational Resources (OER) in German K-12 education, their adoption remains relatively low. Previous research has identified common enablers and barriers to OER adoption (i.e., OER (re)use, adaptation, and creation) from an international and intercultural perspective while a hierarchy of such predictors has not been established yet. In order to inform future support structures and policies, this study aimed to identify the most important enablers and barriers to OER adoption in German K-12 education. For this purpose, common enablers and barriers as well as survey items covering these were identified through a literature review. 1,639 teachers were surveyed. While the tested models for whether and how often educators reuse or create OER showed significance, their predictive power was limited. Notably, awareness of OER, and the frequency of cooperation and local sharing of educational resources were the strongest and most consistent predictors. Other predictors such as lack of high-quality material, lack of time, attitude towards sharing, and OER-related skills were less consistent or showed little explanatory power. In conclusion, commonly identified enablers and barriers alone cannot fully explain OER adoption patterns in this context. These findings highlight the need for more context-specific approaches to enhance OER integration which in turn could inspire OER promotion in similar contexts.

A sustainable hydrogen economy relies on fuel cells and electrolyzers, which heavily depend on ion-conducting perfluoroalkylated materials such as Nafion or Aquivion. Together with other perfluorinated alkyl substances, their environmental accumulation, and the rising awareness of risks to human health stress the need for alternative materials. Based on block-co-polymers from octylstyrene and pentafluorostyrene, we present nanostructured proton-exchange membranes. In contrast to problematic perfluorinated alkyl constituents, the involved aromatic fluorine atoms allow mild functionalizations to form tetrafluorostyrene sulfonic acid. Meanwhile, the nonpolar block reduces the stiffness of the material. By introducing a new preparation technique, controlled mitigation of the thiol cross-linking allows membrane self-reinforcement during drying. The reinforcing cross-links enhance the dissolution stability and reduce the water uptake after 24 h down to 33 wt% at 85 °C. Cross-section imaging visualizes the influence of varying di- and tetrablock-co-polymer backbones on the membrane nanostructure with sizes between 20 and 35 nm. The membranes feature proton conductivities comparable to commercial materials at low humidity levels, surpassing commercial Nafion XL at 87 % relative humidity with up to 79 mS cm−1 at 105 °C. As first successful H2/air fuel cell tests achieve maximum power densities of up to 0.7 W cm−2, the nanostructured polymer membranes are a promising candidate for future fuel cell and electrolyzer applications without problematic perfluorinated alkyl substances.

Metacognitive activities are reported to improve learning but prompts to support metacognition have only been investigated with mixed results. In the present study, metacognitive prompts for confidence judgments were implemented in a learning platform to provide more insights into their effectiveness and their limits. Comparing the prompted group (n = 51) with the control (n = 150), no benefits of the prompts are seen: Performance is not better with prompts, and there is no improvement in metacognitive accuracy over time within the prompted group. Notably, half of the prompted group did not use the metacognitive prompts as intended. Alternative ways to integrate such prompts are discussed.

This paper explores elements of open education within the context of higher education. After an introduction to the origins of open education and its theoretical foundations, the topics of open and distance learning, international education issues in open education, open educational practices and scholarship, open educational resources, MOOCs, prior learning accreditation and recognition, and learner characteristics are considered, following the framework of macro, meso, and micro levels of research in open and distance learning. Implications for future research at the macro, meso, and micro levels are then provided. [The authors of this article belong to The COER Group, Center for Open Education Research (COER), University of Oldenburg, Germany.]

Für die Aus- und Weiterbildung im Pflegebereich stehen zahlreiche Erklärvideos auf der weit verbreiteten Videostreaming-Plattform YouTube zur Verfügung. Allerdings werden die Videos weitgehend unkontrolliert veröffentlicht und sie zeichnen sich durch ein hohes Mass an Heterogenität aus. Lehrende und Lernende stehen vielfach vor der Frage, welches Video aus der umfangreichen Ergebnisliste einer Suche am besten geeignet ist. Im Mittelpunkt dieser Studie steht die qualitative Gestaltung von Erklärvideos, da auch fachlich korrekte Lehr-Lerninhalte angemessen präsentiert werden müssen, um die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines Lernerfolgs zu erhöhen. Zur qualitativen Bewertung von jeweils drei Erklärvideos zu den grundlegenden Pflegethemen Infusionsvorbereitung und 30-Grad-Positionierung wird ein disziplinübergreifendes Analyseraster verwendet, das pädagogisch-didaktische, (lern-)psychologische und filmanalytische Merkmale berücksichtigt. Die Ergebnisse der empirischen Untersuchung zeigen eine durchwachsene Qualität von Erklärvideos für den Pflegebereich. Die evaluierten Erklärvideos berücksichtigen jeweils unterschiedlich umfangreich die Qualitätskriterien und erfüllen kaum (medien-)pädagogisch-didaktische Qualitätskriterien. Die Autoren arbeiten heraus, wann die Erklärvideos dennoch für unterschiedliche Zielgruppen geeignet sind und wie (lern-)psychologische und filmgestalterische Kriterien ineinandergreifen.

This article presents the results of the research “post-pandemic education: understanding of analogic education and digital education from the perspective of educational institutions and teachers in Brazil and Germany”, whose main objective is to analyze how teachers and educational institutions mobilize and position themselves for the expansion of digital education practices. The following methods were used: documentary research with the German state secretariats of education, as well as documentary analysis of educational policies aimed at the implementation of digital information and communication technologies in compulsory education in Germany. We then proceeded to construct a large-scale survey to be answered by teachers of distinct levels of education. We contacted around 9400 compulsory education institutions in the three largest German states in terms of population. As a result, in general, teachers understand the importance of digital technologies in student education and demonstrate knowledge of the policies established by public agencies of the state. The mobilizations around digital pedagogical practices reveal the importance of considering teachers’ and students’ knowledge about technologies inside and outside the school context. The results allow us to understand the place that digital technologies occupy in the daily teaching routine.

Das Internet bricht etablierte Praktiken der Unterrichtsvorbereitung auf. Neue Akteure werden sichtbar und die Rolle der staatlichen Regulation wird infrage gestellt. Wie finden Lehrpersonen an Schulen Unterrichtsmaterialien und wie gehen sie mit selbst entwickelten Materialien um? Eine large-scale Untersuchung mit 1.960 Lehrpersonen aus Deutschland erfasst ihre Handlungspraktiken mit Blick auf die Informationsquellen und Formate der Kollaboration. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen vorliegende Befunde, wonach Lehrende Materialien aller Art in den Weiten des Internets – vor allem über «Google» – suchen. Sie sammeln, entwickeln diese für sich und tauschen sich kaum mit Kolleg:innen aus. Für die weitere Entwicklung eines informationellen Ökosystems für Bildung, das schulübergreifend einen Rahmen für Lehren und Lernen in Schulen schafft, gilt es, das Zusammenspiel der Akteure neu auszurichten. Neben der Bereitstellung von offenen Materialien durch private und staatliche Anbieter:innen kommt insbesondere der kollaborativen Erarbeitung und (Nach-)Nutzung eine besondere Bedeutung zu.

Background: Previous studies on augmented reality-enriched learning and training indicated conflicting results regarding the cognitive load involved: some authors report that AR can reduce cognitive load, others have shown that AR is perceived as cognitively demanding and can lead to poorer performance. Objectives: The aim of this study is to systematically analyse previous research on AR and cognitive load, including performance, and thus to be able to contribute to answering the question of the impact of AR on cognitive load when used in learning environments. Methods: This study applied the systematic review method. A total of 58 studies were identified and analysed using rigorously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results are now reported as a synthesis. Results and Conclusions: Compared to other technologies, AR seems to be less cognitively demanding and also leads to higher performance. However, these results are based on media comparison studies that have been criticized for years. The spatial AR type is better compared to see-through AR. However, the latter can be improved by visual cues and the addition of learning activities, such as value-added studies have revealed. Major takeaways: The essential findings of this study are that the technology used, for example, AR glasses, can unnecessarily increase cognitive load and that still many studies focus on the comparison of AR with more traditional media. Less studies applied alternative research designs, for example, value-added comparisons. However, such designs are better suited to investigate design principles for AR-enriched learning environments, which can then in turn reduce cognitive load as well as positively affect performance.

In this study, we investigated whether playing an escape room game after explicit instruction (instruction-first group, N = 20) is more effective to learn about copyright and media law than playing the game before explicit instruction (problem-solving-first group, N = 21). This is an important question as escape room games are complex, problem-based learning environments that can overwhelm learners and thus hinder the acquisition of knowledge and skills. According to cognitive load theory, preparing learners with explicit instruction before problem-solving activities can overcome this problem leading to better learning. However, in the productive failure paradigm problem-solving before explicit instruction is seen as more effective, especially when it comes to the application of newly acquired knowledge to solve novel problems. Based on these two theories, we conducted an experiment and found that playing the developed digital escape room game after explicit instruction was more effective for knowledge retention and domain-specific self-efficacy with at the same time lower cognitive load. However, we found no differences regarding the application of knowledge as both groups scored equally high on transfer tasks. The result is discussed considering previous productive failure studies mostly conducted in the science and engineering domain. In sum, the instruction first approach proved to be effective for both knowledge acquisition and knowledge application, leading to higher domain-specific self-efficacy and lower cognitive load. Therefore, we conclude that the implementation of escape room games after instruction is an effective instructional approach and better suited to promote learning than playing escape room games before instruction.

Why is Openness in Education important, and why is it critically needed at this moment? As manifested in our guiding question, the significance of Openness in Education and its immediate necessity form the heart of this collaborative editorial piece. This rather straightforward, yet nuanced query has sparked this collective endeavour by using individual testimonies, which may also be taken as living narratives, to reveal the value of Openness in Education as a praxis. Such testimonies serve as rich, personal narratives, critical introspections, and experience-based accounts that function as sources of data. The data gleaned from these narratives points to the understanding of Openness in Education as a complex, multilayered concept intricately woven into an array of values. These range from aspects such as sharing, access, flexibility, affordability, enlightenment, barrier-removal, empowerment, care, individual agency, trust, innovation, sustainability, collaboration, co-creation, social justice, equity, transparency, inclusivity, decolonization, democratisation, participation, liberty, and respect for diversity. This editorial, as a product of collective endeavour, invites its readers to independently engage with individual narratives, fostering the creation of unique interpretations. This call stems from the distinctive character of each narrative as they voice individual researchers’ perspectives from around the globe, articulating their insights within their unique situational contexts.