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Blended learning (BL) tools are increasingly used in higher education (HE) due to global technological advancements. BL tools for this study are online tools integrated with face-to-face teaching that support program management and expedite some educational processes like assignment submission. Importantly, BL can enhance the development of students' higher cognition skills through the communication and active learning it supports. Academic staff who design and implement BL programs are key parties in BL implementation. However, there is limited information available on academic staff uses and perspectives on BL. This study addresses this gap by drawing on a large-scale quantitative survey and responses to qualitative open-ended questions of members of the academic staff in a private HE institution in Malaysia. The study investigates what digital tools they used in their teaching, why they used them, and their impact on their students' learning. We found that the tools most used were limited in their support for students' higher skills development and were mainly used for efficiency in program management. We recommend that staff professional development (PD) in BL be required. The study adds to the BL literature as it advocates for staff technological skills development fused with pedagogical approaches to develop students' higher cognitive skills.

The concept of teacher wellbeing, the importance of considering teacher wellbeing, concerns for developing digital wellbeing and concerns for using digital technologies to support teaching practices have all been previously studied. The idea that uses of digital technologies can support teacher wellbeing (or not) and ways that uses might do this have not been studied to the same extent. Indeed, it can be argued that this topic requires a complete and focused area of study in its own right. This methodologically focused paper takes an initial step in this direction, exploring existing research and backgrounds to wellbeing, teacher wellbeing, digital wellbeing and uses of digital technologies to support teachers' practices. The paper reviews conceptions of digital technologies supporting teacher wellbeing and offers a newly developed outline conceptual model and framework for this research field. The framework is tested, identifying influencing factors from evidence presented in a number of existing relevant case studies where digital technologies have been used to support teacher practices. The efficacy of the proposed framework is assessed, and the paper concludes by offering a proposed research instrument and strategy to advance knowledge in this area.

This theoretical paper is concerned with problematising the rethinking of theoretical backgrounds associated with one of the commonly used educational technology terms (fields)--technology-enhanced learning--in the wider context of scholarship. Examples will show that the term itself is now used beyond its apparent, stated scope, that it is used in a number of varied ways, and that this is in itself problematic. The ways in which the term is used will be identified, and from these a strategic categorisation to rethink the use of the single term in areas of scholarship (particularly research and teaching) will be proposed, offering terms specifically encompassing the realms in which technologies are being used. From this categorisation, it will be shown that each specific category is based on different conceptions related to or arising from practice. Consequently, ways that theoretical backgrounds should be considered will be explored in each case. While existing theoretical backgrounds enable conceptual underpinnings in some of those cases, in other cases it will be shown that there are currently no fully developed theories or limited theoretical frameworks available. The paper will conclude by identifying key research areas needed if we are to develop and take pertinent aspects of scholarship further forward.

This paper reports how an information and communications technology (ICT) system can support greater connection across and outcomes from home and school mathematics learning practices for 11-to-14-year-old pupils. The article details: (1) the purpose, background and theoretical basis of the study; (2) the design approach, including features, accessibility and implementation of a web platform (eZbirka) created as a tool for solving teacher-reported problems in learning practices; (3) the methodological approach adopted for the study; and (4) the effects and contributions of web-based home-and-school-linked practice on pupils and teachers. Interviews with and surveys from pupils and teachers were used to gather data. Findings highlighted the efficacy of the system, indicating benefits arising when pupils and teachers used the entire range of features. This communication and collaboration tool enabled teachers to assist pupils in developing knowledge and abilities only a short time after its inception. Research revealed specific features of the software that support ICT integration into mathematics teaching and learning practices; specifically, it shifts an ineffective learning process and offers new ways of thinking about mathematical learning.