The present study analyses the use of Twitter in the course Social Media and Digital Learning, taught as part of a master's programme at Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia (Spain). The main purpose of the use of this resource was to develop a learning community. This was implemented through the micro design of activities. A mixed…

A Hypercontextualized Game (HCG) is a locally designed game that supports its players in gathering context-specific information and in-depth understanding and knowledge regarding the context of a site. LIEKSAMYST, an exciting mobile application, with which visitors can play various games based on stories, was originally developed for the open-air…

Since 2000, the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) has offered graduate-level programs in sub-Saharan Africa. These programs have been highly successful in creating a cadre of early childhood development (ECD) leaders in countries throughout Africa. When ECDVU was launched, the program was considered to be at the cutting edge…

Drawing from the socio-cultural theory of Vygotsky, this study compared the academic performance gains scores of pupils in a Keypad Response Technology (KRT) class with those in two other pedagogies to determine the learners' language proficiency level in ESL classroom. A sample of 99 Nigerian primary six pupils participated in the study.…

Most school districts are out to regulate and restrict student texting and fear student-teacher texting as particularly inappropriate. But might this youth-dominated channel in fact be a twenty-first century portal to personalized support for youth struggling in school? This article shares first findings from participatory design research on…

Mobile (m)-learning is motivating to learners to improve foreign language skills, as it offers them a rich, informal, contextual, and ubiquitous learning environment. In this paper I report on the results of two empirical studies that focused on two projects, both of which incorporated e-learning and m-learning, to determine if a blended-learning…

This paper discusses three possible ways of applying podcasts in distance education: podcasts of recordings of virtual classes, podcasts produced for specific pedagogical aims, and podcasts produced by external organizations. Through a survey we gained insight in the (until now limited) experiences of our distant students with podcasts, and also…

Purpose: This paper aims to report on a pilot research project designed to explore if new mobile augmented reality (AR) technologies have the potential to enhance the learning of clinical skills in the lab. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory action-research-based pilot study was undertaken to explore an initial proof-of-concept design in…

There is a pressing need for an evaluation rubric that examines all aspects of educational apps designed for instructional purposes. In past decades, many rubrics have been developed for evaluating educational computer-based programs; however, rubrics designed for evaluating the instructional implications of educational apps are scarce. When an…

A usability study was conducted by the Research and Innovation Network and Assessment Solutions Design to assess the usability of a drawing response interaction type. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) commissioned a multi-part study to determine the viability of using the drawing response interaction on…

This comprehensive and cutting-edge book portrays a vision of how digital media can help transform schools, and what kinds of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, infrastructure, and learning environments are necessary for that transformation to take place. The author and his research team spent thousands of hours observing classes and interviewing…

The internationally recognized series of "Horizon Reports" is part of the New Media Consortium's Horizon Project, a comprehensive research venture established in 2002 that identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact over the coming five years on a variety of sectors around the globe. This volume, the "2011 Horizon…

This paper is an exploratory study about sexting, the sending of sexually explicit or illicit photos or video between cell phones, in Kansas public schools. An on-line survey asked superintendents to report if they have had an occurrence of sexting in their district. They were also asked if they felt sexting is currently a problem in their…

If you were transported back to school, what kind of technology would most engage you? This article presents responses from leading technology educators who were asked this question. The following technological tools are highlighted: interactive whiteboards, wikis, teacher-created websites, story creation tools, cell phones, Skype, digital…

Objectives: To assess associations of physical activity, diet, and sedentary behaviors with overweight and obesity. Methods: Analyses of the NHANES 2003-06 were conducted among 2368 US adolescents, ages 12-19. Self-reported diet and sedentary behavior measures were used; physical activity was assessed using accelerometers. Results:…