There is a healthy research community focused on individual differences to tailor serious games for maximum effect for each person. But there is a comparative lack of research on the scalability of serious games for maximising knowledge saturation in a population. Scalability is critical in many real applications. The authors detail this neglected…

The ability to assess learning hinges on the quality of the instruments that are used. This paper reports on the first stage of the design of software to assist educators in ensuring assessment questions meet educational outcomes. A review of the literature within the field of instructional psychology was undertaken with a view towards…

The advent of feature phones in emerging economies makes them an ideal tool to be used for facilitating and complementing education performed in a formal environment (i.e. schools). However most of the proposed applications do not take into account the wishes of the teachers to customise the applications for student needs, or easiness to re-create…

With the rapid advance of e-learning, the online peer help is playing increasingly important role. This paper explores the application of MAS to an online peer help system (MAPS). In the design phase, the architecture of MAPS is proposed, which consists of a set of agents including the personal agent, the course agent, the diagnosis agent, the DF…

This article presents a review of existent literature that provides insight in the effectiveness of computer learning games. Based on this research, the effectiveness of games is illustrated in detail with regard to three current perspectives on games: design characteristics of games, the process of gameplay and the reflection of specific…

Virtual worlds have become an invaluable space for online learning and the exploration of digital cultures. Communication departments can benefit from using these spaces to educate their students in the logistics of virtual worlds and as a way to better understand how the process of interpersonal and global communication functions in both online…

Growing science apathy at the K-12 education level represents an alarming development with potentially devastating consequences at individual, societal and economic levels. Technology has been incorporated in science education without fundamentally improving test scores or student attitudes. We claim the core of the problem is how technology is…

Adventure learning (AL) provides learners with opportunities to explore real-world issues through authentic learning experiences within collaborative online learning environments. This paper reports on an AL program, designed using Keller's ARCS motivational model of instructional design, which encompassed more than 3 million learners worldwide.…

The overwhelming success of the commercial game market has brought increased attention to emerging work in educational game design. Much of the existing work in educational games has a strong similarity to the field of Problem-Based Learning (PBL), which has a rich history of conceptual literature as well as empirical investigations. Despite…

In this paper we challenge designers, researchers, teachers, students, and parents to re-assess and re-envision the value of technology-mediated feedback and e-assessment by examining the innovative roles feedback and assessment played in the design of three contemporary web-based learning environments. These environments include 1) an…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of three different interface types on Web-based instruction: a text-based interface, a graphical interface and a metaphorical interface. In order to determine differences among three interface groups, we compared learning performance, cognitive load, usability, and appeal with various data…

Research on asynchronous online discussions has primarily focused on their efficacy in relation to learning outcomes. Rarely are there investigations on how the design of online learning activities or how discussions could be incorporated into student learning experience. We contend that successful online activities need careful and meticulous…

Self-, peer-, and collaborative-assessment aim at integrating learning and assessment and promoting the active engagement of learners in the assessment process. This article presents a web-based environment, referred to as PECASSE, which supports these assessment methods. In addition to the basic functions of uploading learners'…

Although the advent of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) promised more flexible and independent learning, concerns have also been raised about the quality of their pedagogical effects. This article presents the results of a case study which endeavoured to explore the relationship between approaches to learning and studying, and perceptions of…

The underlying aim of the work related in this article, was to define Design Patterns for recording and analyzing usage in learning systems. The implied "bottom-up" approach when defining a Design Pattern brought us to examine data collected in our learning system through different lights: (1) the data type, (2) the human roles involved…