Connectivism, a learning theory that reveals a new learning in the Internet environment, has become a popular academic topic at the forefront of online learning. The MOOC Research Team at the Distance Education Research Centre at Beijing Normal University designed and developed the first massive open online course in China, adapting a connectivist…

The Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP), implemented in a network of eight schools in Catalonia, demonstrates the value of an Innovative Learning Environment (ILE) towards supporting dialogical, technological, and systemic dimensions in teaching and learning. Using a design-based research (DBR) approach, a survey queried teachers,…

This mixed methods study explores instructor motivations for offering massive open online courses (MOOCs) as well as the instructional innovations used to enhance the MOOC design. The researchers surveyed 143 MOOC instructors worldwide and then interviewed 12 of these instructors via Zoom. They also extensively reviewed the MOOCs of the…

This research project examined the impact on student engagement of a makerspace approach in an all-First Nations high school. First Nations learners have many factors limiting their success in the K-12 system such as lack of connection to the curriculum, limited cultural relevance of course content, and poor attendance. A common concern for those…

This case study deals with the development and implementation of two online art courses. It outlines the concerns of the faculty member responsible for these courses and those of the instructional designer assisting him. The key design issues deal with the management of copyright material available via the Internet, the difficulty of implementing…

This article describes the just-in-time online professional development offered to teachers in the Remote Networked Schools (RNS), a systemic initiative funded by the Quebec Ministry of Education (Canada), which aims at enriching the learning environment of small rural schools with the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The…

Learning organizations rely on collaborative information and understanding to support and sustain professional growth and development. A collaborative self-assessment instrument can provide clear articulation and characterization of the level of adoption of innovation such as the use of instructional technologies. Adapted from the "Level of…

Knowledge Building as a theoretical, pedagogical, and technological innovation focuses on the 21st century need to work creatively with knowledge. The team now advancing Knowledge Building spans multiple disciplines, sectors, and cultural contexts. Several teacher-researcher-government partnerships have formed to bring about the systemic changes…

Knowledge Building is approached in this study from an organizational perspective, with a focus on the nature of school-university-government partnerships to support research-based educational innovation. The paper starts with an overview of what is known about effective partnerships and elaborates a conceptual framework for Knowledge Building…

Remote Networked Schools (RNS) is an initiative by the Quebec Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sports (MELS) to investigate solutions that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) can offer for the preservation of small rural schools in Quebec, Canada. The implementation of RNS mobilized then--as it still does now--the local…

This study suggests equity of access goes beyond technological availability. Based on a larger exploratory study of the initial implementation stage of the Mexican government's community technology centers, CTCs ("plazas comunitarias"), adult education instructors' perceptions and diffusion practices are described as a mediating factor…

This paper takes a large-scale social perspective in describing a national project in Australia that was premised on local school communities working together and contributing ideas for the benefit of their students, and potentially, the whole country. The project was intended to improve schools' capacity for educating boys, and in the long-term,…

Explains the Training, Infrastructure and Empowerment System (TIES), a theory-based system of educational reform through instructional technology, and discusses results of a study at a Canadian university that investigated the vision for instructional technology, learning technologies and alternative delivery systems, and adoption of innovation.…

A theory­-based system of educational reform through instructional technology, the Training, Infrastructure and Empowerment System (TIES), was developed and piloted in a research university during the late 1990s. In 2001, a research study was conducted on this implementation using qualitative methodology. Interviews were conducted with 12…

Design-based research is proposed as a strategy to address the need for innovation in educational contexts. The article argues the case for increased and more effective research and development in education, and then presents a discussion of design-based research as a methodological set of tools to address this need. The four phases of…