Studies have shown that standard lectures and instructional laboratory experiments are not effective at teaching interference and diffraction. In response, the author created an interactive computer program that simulates interference and diffraction effects using the finite difference time domain method. The software allows students to easily…

This paper argues that research into the pedagogical value and potential of new technologies is limited by the implicit philosophical perspectives on technology that such research adopts. These perspectives either imbue technologies with inalienable qualities (essentialism) or posit technology as a neutral means for realizing goals defined by…

This article has a dual purpose: it describes the development of First Year Dental Anatomy (FYDA), a web-based 3D interactive application used in the dental curriculum at a major Canadian university, and it reports on the results of a research study conducted to assess the perception of learning benefits students experienced through the use of…

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) came to prominence with Open Educational Resources Movement (OERM). It was based upon the idea of libre in removal of some permission barriers and gratis in removing the price barrier (Suber, 2008) in learning resources. In line with the theoretical underpinnings of OERM, MOOCs embody primary characteristics of…

Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the value of positioning teaching as a design science. In this context, we see a great potential in the possible synergy between educational design, learning analytics and teacher inquiry. This synergy is demonstrated in the form of Computer Supported Curriculum Analysis, Design and Evaluation for…

Despite many years of research in CSCL, computers are still scarcely used in classrooms today. One reason for this is that the constraints of the classroom environment are neglected by designers. In this contribution, we present a CSCL environment designed for a classroom usage from the start. The system, called TapaCarp, is based on a tangible…

Teacher education nowadays needs a change in vision and action to cater to the demands of changing societies. Reforms, improvements, and new approaches in teacher education are an immediate need. Online training of teachers using OER has emerged as a new approach in this direction. This approach is based on the assumption that online training will…

This study was designed to understand how upper secondary school students in Cambodia perceive the use of computers and the Internet. Data were collected from students in three urban upper secondary schools (n = 1,137) in Cambodia using questionnaires. The data indicate that the more exposure a Cambodian student had to computers and the Internet…

Students in institutions of higher learning should take advantage of information available on the Internet in their coursework. The Internet is also utilised for social and other non-academic functions. Hence, it is desirable, for students to strike a balance in the time spent online for academic and non-academic purposes. In this study, the…

This paper includes two experiments, one investigating complexity factors in stoichiometry word problems, and the other identifying students' problem-solving protocols by using eye-tracking technology. The word problems used in this study had five different complexity factors, which were randomly assigned by a Web-based tool that we developed. The…

Theory lectures are boring and sleep inducing for students, and it is difficult to get their full attention during 1 h of lecture. The ability of students to concentrate diminishes 20-25 min after the start of the lecture. There is also a lack of active participation of students during theory lectures. In an effort to break the monotony of the…

In design teaching ubiquitous technologies can offer new ways of situating learning within real world experiences. Yet they require new types of knowledge; both an understanding of how to work with the technology and also an understanding of how to use the technologies to respond to changing contexts such as the place and the people. We sought to…

Since 2004, EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) has partnered with higher education institutions to investigate the technologies that matter most to undergraduate students. They do this by exploring students' technology experiences and expectations. In 2014, the ECAR technology survey was sent to approximately 1.5 million students at…

Self-regulative behaviors are dynamic and evolve as a function of time and context. However, dynamical fluctuations in behaviors are often difficult to measure and therefore may not be fully captured by traditional measures alone. Utilizing system log data and two novel statistical methodologies, this study examined emergent patterns of controlled…

Before massive numbers of students can take online courses for college credit, the challenges of providing tutoring support, answers to student-posed questions, and the control of cheating will need to be addressed. These challenges are taken up here by developing an online course delivery system that runs in a cluster computing environment and is…