Contemporary educational practices have been calling for pedagogical models that foreground flexibility, agency, ubiquity, and connectedness in learning. These models have, in turn, been stimulating redevelopments of educational infrastructure--with physical contours reconfigured into novel complex learning spaces at universities, schools,…

The dominant narrative for assessment design seems to reflect a strong, albeit largely implicit undercurrent of purpose purism, which idealizes the principle that assessment design should be driven by a single assessment purpose. With a particular focus on achievement assessments, the present article questions the tenability of purpose purism,…

This theoretical development article examines how design methodology currently applied in United States military doctrine can offer insights into the increasingly complex arena of program evaluations of online modes for adult distance education. The article presents key themes that emerge from a multidisciplinary literature review. These themes…

There is growing interest in promoting autism-friendly environments, especially in a school setting. Findings to date have generally advocated an accepted reductionist or generalist approach when providing an autism-friendly built environment. However, previous studies, while very well intentioned, have rarely involved those with autism spectrum…

This article uses a variety of principles of cultural-historical activity theory to extend Herbert Simon's (1996) insight into the inherent linkage between the creation of artifacts and design. We argue that design research must grapple with the doubly artificial, as the classrooms in which many educational designs are implemented are themselves…

There is substantial evidence that preschooler's performance in early math is highly correlated to math performance throughout school as well as academic skills in general. One way to help children attain early math skills is by using targeted educational software and the paper discusses potential gains of using such software to support early math…

Digital solutions have substantially contributed to the growth and dissemination of education. The distance education modality has been presented as an opportunity for worldwide students in many types of courses. However, projects of digital educational platforms require different expertise including knowledge areas such as pedagogy, psychology,…

It is now common practice for instructional designers to incorporate digitally recorded lectures for Podcasts (e.g., iTunes University), voice-over presentations (e.g., PowerPoint), animated screen captures with narration (e.g., Camtasia), and other various learning objects with digital audio in the instructional method. As a result, learners are…

This paper considers how far Anglo Saxon conceptions of vocational education and training have influenced European Union vocational education and training policy, especially given the disparate approaches to vocational education and training across Europe. Two dominant approaches can be identified: the dual system (exemplified by Germany); and…

The term "real-world ID" is commonly heard at professional conferences, but its meaning is assumed rather than defined. Unless we examine the meanings and implications of rhetoric of the field, we risk error in presenting ourselves, and we risk derailing the progress of our profession. This article examines the term "real world" as applied to…

Recent reviews of vocational qualifications in England have noted problems with their restricted nature. However, the underlying issue of how to conceptualise professional agency in curriculum design has not been properly addressed, either by the Richard or the Whitehead reviews. Drawing on comparative work in England and Europe it is argued that…

The author notes: "A personal anecdote is an apt opening to this article. An assignment I once had called for assessing texts in a pre-med curriculum. In reviewing a calculus text, a subject in which I had no expertise then or now, I had trouble following an "explanation." I was able to identify where and why the text let me down.…

In countless discussions over the past ten years with educators considering the adoption of the Quality Matters (QM) Rubric™, the most common question asked is, "Can you prove that applying the QM Rubric to an online course improves outcomes--retention, grades, learner satisfaction?" This question seems necessary, reasonable, and even…

Numerous studies have proposed and implemented various innovative designs of mobile learning practices, and several pedagogical affordances of mobile technologies in different subject domains have also been suggested. This study proposes a notion for helping instructors design an innovative mobile learning practice in their subject domain. The…

This is a critical phase for Open Educational Resources (OER) movement: on one side the number of OER is increasing rapidly, and on other side debates about quality of OER-based courseware are heating up. These debates emanate from the fact that OER-based courseware are supposed to help users to follow a logical learning path and get an engaging,…