The transformation of the chemical engineering profession is occurring in response to the industry needs of the rapidly-developing bioeconomy and biosector across Europe. To meet these requirements, a new Biotechnology and Bioprocessing module has been designed and offered to Chemical Engineering undergraduates at Aston University, UK. This module…

Since Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) became a global phenomenon in 2012, there has been constant evolution in the way Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) make sense of them. HEIs embracing MOOCs have dedicated a variety of human resource to this venture. Only in a minority of cases, staff have been appointed exclusively to this role. In all…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of analysing online discussion and argue for the merits of mixed methods. Much research of online participation and e-learning has been either message-focused or person-focused. The former covers methodologies such as content and discourse analysis, the latter interviewing and surveys.…

Previous research into enhancing children's educational dialogues during group work has recognised the role of teachers in modelling dialogue and guiding their students' engagement in reasoning. Whole-class plenaries also offer teachers such opportunities but the technological support of dialogue in plenaries remains relatively unexplored. The…

Evaluation of "e-Learning", or arguably "e-Delivery", is difficult. One reason is that comparisons are often made between different courses delivered using various delivery modes, making such comparisons hard to justify. The Business School at a university in the United Kingdom reportedly delivers the same postgraduate course…

It is possible that the pedagogical benefits of a discussion board or any asynchronous communicative tool may not be realised as inscribed in terms like "collaborative learning environment" or "discussion board" due to two things: first, as instructors, we focus on what the technology can do and should do and ignore "what…

This paper explores how the interactive whiteboard (IWB) might be harnessed to support student learning through classroom dialogue. This powerful and increasingly prevalent technology opens up opportunities for learners to generate, modify, and evaluate new ideas, through multimodal interaction along with talk. Its use can thereby support rich new…

A problem that is still unexplored in the field of socioscientific issues (SSI) and that was explored in this study is how different students decide upon a SSI they are discussing, how their justifications change during the instruction and how they use (or not) the evidence from the learning environment to support their justifications. For the…

Teacher education involves an identity transformation for trainees from being a student to being a teacher. This discourse analysis examined the online discussion board communications of a cohort of trainee teachers to better understand the situated identities of the trainees and how they were presented online. Their discussion board posts were…

The use of technology within the lifelong learning sector brings many benefits to learners, teachers and managers. Aimed at trainee and practising teachers, this book contains clear, practical guidance on how to use technology and e-learning effectively to enhance all aspects of teaching and learning in the post-compulsory sector. Alan Clarke…

An emerging trend in classrooms is the use of networked visual argumentation tools that allow students to discuss, debate, and argue with one another in a synchronous fashion about topics presented by a teacher. These tools are aimed at teaching students how to discuss and argue, important skills not often taught in traditional classrooms. But how…

The experiences of Chinese learners on two e-learning programmes in China were investigated, focusing particularly on the formation of learning communities. Data were collected using a range of instruments to access the learners' perspectives in depth and detail. Archer's account of reflexivity as the mediating power between structure and agency…

This paper is concerned with teaching and learning in a blended e-learning course that supports students in reflecting on and transforming their practice. In this paper we focus on two key aspects of the online learning environment: (i) the selection of the topic of discussion (the discussion question) by the tutor and how this influences the…

Interactive whiteboards have been rapidly introduced into all primary schools under UK Government initiatives. These large, touch-sensitive screens, which control a computer connected to a digital projector, seem to be the first type of educational technology particularly suited for whole-class interaction. Strong claims are made for their value…

When asked what they would find most helpful to enable them to use technologies more in their teaching, most teachers say "give me examples, in my subject area" and "point me to relevant people I can discuss these issues with". Web 2.0 technologies--with their emphasis on sharing, networking and user production--seem to offer a…