In this paper, we address the issue of the design and deployment of VR-oriented pedagogical scenarios by teachers as designers. To provide practical and theoretical solutions, we analyse the various existing models and tools for assisting teachers in the design and deployment of virtual reality learning environments (VRLEs). We identify a need for…

Additive manufacturing (AM) is projected to require 60,000 jobs in the UK by 2025, but there are a series of barriers to the industrial application. One of the most problematic is non-comprehensive knowledge in design for AM (DfAM). This study aims to test the effect of two undergraduate DfAM teaching approaches. A visual and audial approach…

As we talked with school teachers about the use of physical computing systems in class, one major drawback of these systems became obvious: almost nobody--next to enthusiastic autodidacts--has been able to tell us on an abstract basis for which educational purposes a certain physical computing system can be used, i.e. in a goal-oriented way. This…

Celebrating hands-on making and technological inventiveness, the Maker Movement promotes the popularity of new makerspaces: learning environments filled with diverse materials for youth's creative projects. Described as "constructionist learning environments," makerspaces can be challenging to design because materials require substantial…

Understanding the relationship between molecular structure and function represents an important goal of undergraduate life sciences. Although evidence suggests that handling physical models supports gains in student understanding of structure-function relationships, such models have not been widely implemented in biochemistry classrooms.…

Creating learning environments that integrate arts, sciences, and computing in education can improve learning in these disciplines. In particular, transdisciplinary integrations of these disciplines can lead to expansive alterations or dissolutions of epistemological, ideological, and methodological boundaries. We wish to support teachers in the…

In this article, the authors describe a fourth-grade lesson where 3-D printing technologies were not only a stimulus for engagement but also served as a modeling tool providing meaningful learning opportunities. Specifically, fourth-grade students construct an argument that animals' external structures function to support survival in a particular…

The authors present this interview with Joshua Kim, Director of Digital Learning Initiatives at the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL). Dr. Kim leads Dartmouth College's efforts around online learning and digital innovation for teaching and learning. He is a well-known conference speaker and consultant in the area of…

The authors were asked to design and develop a large-scale, web-based learning environment that would effectively assist international aid workers in conducting their daily tasks in the field, at home and in the office in a safer and more secure fashion. The design, development and dissemination of the training needed to be done quickly,…

This paper considers the ethics of educational technology in terms of whether or not selected media and methods are beneficial to the teacher and student, or whether other motives and criteria determine the selection. Communications media have proven themselves to be powerful and efficient tools, used like "dynamite" for getting the most…

If you are looking for an organic approach to purpose-driven professional learning, this is the book for you. Award-winning educator Lois Brown Easton's latest work provides a compelling case study in narrative form, a chronological PLC planning outline, and first-hand "lessons learned" about how PLCs develop, mature, and sustain themselves. You…

Learning can take place in a variety of different contexts. Two important categories of learning event are those which are "contrived" and those which are "serendipitous." If they are to be optimally successful, the first of these types of event requires a level of planning that is commensurate with the outcomes that are to be achieved. Planning…

This is the fourth and final installment in a series of articles presenting a new outlook on the methods of instructional design. These articles examine the nature of the process of instructional design and are meant to stimulate discussion about the roles of designers in the fields of instructional design, the learning sciences, and interaction…

We examine the effect of direct and indirect teaching of vocabulary and word reading on pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children following use of an electronic storybook (e-book). The children in each age group were randomly assigned to an intervention group which read the e-book or to a control group which was afforded the regular school…

There is a concern that the teaching of subjects is applied not only with support from a set of technological devices, but largely in the proper use of teaching and new technologies. Taking this idea, the authors develop a research and sustainable design that result in educational materials in solid content and technological innovation, also to…