Currently, e-learning systems are being widely used in all stages of education. However, it is difficult for school administrators to accurately assess the actual usage performance of a new system, especially when an organization wishes to update the system for users from different backgrounds using new devices such as smartphones. To allow school…

Computer literacy is increasingly important in higher education, and many educational technology experts propose a more prominent integration of technology into pedagogy. Empirical evidence is needed to support these theories. This study examined community college students planning to transfer to 4-year universities and estimated the relationship…

There is a substantial and growing interest in immersive virtual spaces as contexts for 21st century skills like problem solving, communication, and collaboration. However, little consideration has been given to the ways in which users become proficient in these environments or what types of target behaviors are associated with 21st century…

Plagiarism has become a serious problem in education, and several plagiarism detection systems have been developed for dealing with this problem. This study provides an empirical evaluation of eight plagiarism detection systems for student essays. We present a categorical hierarchy of the most common types of plagiarism that are encountered in…

This article deals with gender phenomena in the context of digital literacy. Studies show that computer use, computer skills, and computer-related self-concepts are subject to gender differences. These differences may affect classroom interactions as well as learning processes and have therefore to be considered carefully by teachers who apply…

Students learned about electrical circuits in an arcade-type game consisting of 10 levels. For example, in one level students saw two circuits consisting of various batteries and resistors connected in series or parallel, and had to indicate which one had a higher rate of moving current. On levels 1-9, all students received a correct tone and had…

Two studies are reported which describe the development and evaluation of a new instrument, the Computer Technology Use Scale (CTUS), comprising three domains: computer self-efficacy, attitudes to technology, and technology related anxiety. Study 1 describes the development of the instrument and explores its factor structure. Study 2 used…

Can learning of mental imagery skills for visualizing shapes be accelerated with feature masking? Chemistry, physics fine arts, military tactics, and laparoscopic surgery often depend on mentally visualizing shapes in their absence. Does working with "spatial feature-masks" (skeletal shapes, missing key identifying portions) encourage people to…

In this article, we describe the development of a mobile butterfly-watching learning (BWL) system to realize outdoor independent learning for mobile learners. The mobile butterfly-watching learning system was designed in a wireless mobile ad-hoc learning environment. This is first result to provide a cognitive tool with supporting the independent…

Substantial disagreement exists in the literature regarding which educational technology results in the highest cognitive gain for learners. In an attempt to resolve this dispute, we conducted a meta-analysis to decipher which teaching method, games and interactive simulations or traditional, truly dominates and under what circumstances. It was…

Since past studies showing that competition has negative effects on group process were primarily conducted in traditional classrooms involving face-to-face situations, this study extends past research by investigating whether the negative effects associated with face-to-face team competition can be mitigated with the support of networking…