Higher education institutions have been playing a pivotal role in the emergence and elaboration of the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement. Initially, pioneering institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have led the conceptualization of OER, providing models of sustainable initiatives. Following the forerunners,…

Although today's unprecedented advancements in technology ought to serve as a springboard for innovations in teaching and learning, practices in many schools in the United States and around the globe remain unchanged. Indeed, Europe, too has struggled with this challenge. Using European technology initiatives as points of reflection, the authors…

Due to rapid advancements in our ability to collect, process, and analyze massive amounts of data, it is now possible for educational institutions to gain new insights into how people learn (Kumar, 2013). E-learning has become an important part of education, and this form of learning is especially suited to the use of big data and data analysis,…

In 2014, researchers at the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California (USC) received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement in Postsecondary Education's First in the World program to do research aimed at understanding how games can be used to cultivate college knowledge and…

Integrating and documenting formal and informal learning experiences is challenging using the current Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) eLearning standard, which limits the media and data that are obtained from eLearning. In response to SCORM's limitations, corporate, military, and academic institutions have collaborated to develop…

Recruitment gaming embodies an exciting new tool at the interface of the education and private sectors. Employers and recruitment platforms add new complications to the already problematic relationship between game designers and educators. To better understand the emerging recruitment aspects of gaming and identify areas for those in educational…

The design of online learning environments is a complicated process because it entails the use of technological tools to mediate the various forms of interaction situated in the learning process. One possible way to help reduce such complication inherent in various forms of interaction is to look at design as a problem-solving activity. This means…

A great number of technologies and tools have been developed to support science learning and teaching. However, science teachers and researchers point out numerous challenges to implementing such tools in science classrooms. For instance, guidelines, lesson plans, Web links, and tools teachers can easily find through Web-based search engines often…

The authors stand by this prediction: Within five years "every" child in "every" grade in "every" K-12 classroom in America will be using a mobile learning device (MLD), 24/7. And a corollary already being seen in MLD-using classrooms: Student achievement will increase "significantly", since time-on-task…

Given that there is no universal way to measure implementation fidelity, instructional designers developing instructional innovations may find themselves faced with the challenge of determining the extent to which teachers' implementation of an instructional model is faithful. This article contends that a faithful implementation is one in…

The Bloomington Project School (BPS) is a charter school that has successfully adopted and implemented several learner-centered educational strategies. This case study offers a glimpse into its student-centered, collaborative, and interdisciplinary learning and teaching processes; its mastery-based assessment process; and its successful technology…

The authors describe progress at King Khalid University (KKU) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in developing and implementing a user-centered road map for teaching and learning, with pervasive e-learning as a core element. They named the approach "Invisible" e-learning. As part of it, they are investigating ways to capture and share…

Discusses level 3 evaluation from Donald Kirkpatrick's Four Level Evaluation Model (level: 1-reaction; 2-learning; 3-behavior; 4-results) to measure training program performance. Highlights include an evaluation planning matrix; increasing evaluation data accuracy and reliability; data collection method selection; designing data collection…

Reviews commonly held perceptions about distance education, beginning with historical biases and including current thinking regarding technology integration. A self-administered test is included that is designed to encourage discussion about opinions that people have regarding the impact of distance education on teachers, students, instruction,…

Discusses the historical development of "hard" and "soft" systems thinking traditions and examines how these traditions have been understood and applied in the field of instructional development. Proposes the need for a synthesis of the two traditions in planning, implementing, and evaluating instructional programs. (AEF)