With the general closure of universities and schools in Sierra Leone due to the COVID-19 pandemic, digital learning has become a credible alternative to maintain students in educational, training... Show More

With the general closure of universities and schools in Sierra Leone due to the COVID-19 pandemic, digital learning has become a credible alternative to maintain students in educational, training, and research links. The study responds to three primary questions: 1) What digital learning modalities have shown to be most effective for providing continuity in learning amid temporary or permanent school closures? 2) What digital learning modalities are promising for their use but evidence for their use evidence about them is still lacking? 3) What are the challenges and considerations when planning for and implementing digital learning? The study utilised qualitative research methods: interviews; focus group discussions; qualitative survey; and document reviewing. A stratified sample of 260 participants (161 male and 99 female) was randomly drawn from teachers, education officials and information technology experts. This paper provides snapshots of the different distance learning initiatives and program that have been implemented, including both the promises they offer.

This study explored students’ motivation and difficulties in learning programming in a blended learning environment. The face-to-face classroom instructions were blended with digital learning... Show More

This study explored students’ motivation and difficulties in learning programming in a blended learning environment. The face-to-face classroom instructions were blended with digital learning instructions. The study adopted a convergent parallel design mixed methods research and involved 209 pre-university students. The findings were as follows: (i) Looping was hard. Students faced difficulties in program design, problem-solving, and debugging of repetition structures. (ii) Students with prior programming experience were more motivated to learn by innate psychological needs: autonomy and competence. (iii) Competence motivated students performed better in programming, but no significant findings for autonomy and relatedness motivated students. A blended learning environment must be structured around the nature of the subject to satisfy students’ innate psychological needs. Digital learning materials can support understanding of certain programming concepts, but teaching instructors play an important role in providing academic, mental, and emotional support.

The use of social media such as Twitter has gained popularity in education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study included 22 high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles for the meta-analysis. The... Show More

The use of social media such as Twitter has gained popularity in education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study included 22 high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles for the meta-analysis. The authors reveal that there are no significant differences in teaching effectiveness between the Twitter and non-Twitter-assisted learning approaches. Twitter-assisted learning outcomes are significantly higher than the non-Twitter-assisted whether Twitter is used as a supplementary or an integrated tool. Twitter-assisted learning can lead to significantly higher learning outcomes than non-Twitter-assisted learning in the USA, Greece, and Sweden, but no significant difference is revealed in Spain. Swedish users hold significantly positive attitudes towards the use of Twitter in education, but no significant difference is found in the USA. Twitter-assisted learning can cause significantly more engagement than non-Twitter-assisted in the USA, and male learners have significantly higher learning outcomes than females in both the USA and Spain.

One of the recent developments across education priorities in South Africa is the provision of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to schools to achieve the objectives of the country’s... Show More

One of the recent developments across education priorities in South Africa is the provision of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to schools to achieve the objectives of the country’s National Development Plan (NDP) agenda 2030. With the current focus on adoption of technology for teaching and learning, it is imperative to fully understand the perceptions and attitudes of teachers towards the use of ICT in their practice. Thus, this study investigated the teachers’ perceptions and attitudes on the use of ICTs for teaching and learning. The findings are based on data collected through semi-structured interviews, journal reflections, and lesson observations. The results reveal that most teachers have positive perceptions towards the use of ICT for teaching and learning. It also indicated that the attitudes of teachers are varied based on the level of ICT training and support that they receive. The results of this research might be foremost to provide clear insights that could be contributing to the effective adoption of technology for teaching and learning.

It is commonly accepted that learners gain better understanding of science concepts when they perform ‘hands-on' experiments in the lab. However, the lack of lab infrastructure, particularly in most... Show More

It is commonly accepted that learners gain better understanding of science concepts when they perform ‘hands-on' experiments in the lab. However, the lack of lab infrastructure, particularly in most rural schools, negatively affects the teaching of science. With the increasing potential of ICT to education, virtual laboratories (VL) have emerged as an alternative to the real laboratories. Like any ICT educational tool, it is important to understand the enabling and constraining factors in teaching with the VL. Therefore, this study presents the enabling and constraining factors in using the VL from teachers' perspectives. Particularly, this study is guided by the research question: What are the enabling and constraining factors in using the virtual lab to mediate learning of science through scientific experiments? Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and lesson observations. The results reveal that the Virtual Lab has several enabling factors and also revealed some constraining factors. Nevertheless, findings suggest the VL is a suitable alternative to the real lab.

The discourse around online summative assessment has become one of the major issues in open distance learning (ODL) worldwide. There is a lack of major research in online summative assessment in... Show More

The discourse around online summative assessment has become one of the major issues in open distance learning (ODL) worldwide. There is a lack of major research in online summative assessment in environmental education (EE) module for the bachelor of education (B.Ed.) students in ODL. The purpose of this study was to explore online summative assessment of EE module for the B.Ed. students at the University of South Africa (UNISA) during COVID-19. This study employed a qualitative approach, purposive sampling, and an interpretive paradigm. Data were ethically collected using participant observation and documentation. It was thematically analysed. Online summative assessment policies were in place before the outbreak of COVID-19, but policies were not implemented. The university quickly transitioned from face-to-face to online summative assessment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and lecturers were trained. Challenges included non-training of students for online summative assessment, corrupt answer books, lack of prompt response from ICT specialist, and connectivity problems.

This paper aims to explore parents' satisfaction and awareness towards online schooling efficiency using Saudi online learning platform (Madrasati) in the first three grades of primary schools... Show More

This paper aims to explore parents' satisfaction and awareness towards online schooling efficiency using Saudi online learning platform (Madrasati) in the first three grades of primary schools during the COVID-19 Pandemic and to potentially alternate face-to-face classroom learning post-pandemic. It focuses on the advantages and disadvantages. A survey-based questionnaire is used to collect data from ninety-nine parents and a mixed-method of qualitative and quantitative is applied. The descriptive statistical method is used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that, however, this modality has disadvantages and is stressful for parents as their kids' progress relies heavily on their support, the parents and their kids generally had positive beliefs about online schooling and highly recommended the implementation of online learning after the pandemic. It is recommended for successful and efficient online schooling, the Ministry of education policymakers should enhance and support online pedagogical methods, teachers' training courses, and appropriate curriculums.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have evolved rapidly in recent years due to their open and massive nature. However, MOOCs suffer from a high dropout rate, since learners struggle to stay... Show More

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have evolved rapidly in recent years due to their open and massive nature. However, MOOCs suffer from a high dropout rate, since learners struggle to stay cognitively and emotionally engaged. Learner feedback is an excellent way to understand learner behaviour and model early decision making. In the presented study, the authors aim to explore learner sentiment expressed in their comments using machine learning and multi-factor analysis methods. They address several research questions on sentiment analysis on educational data. A total of 3311 messages, posted on a MOOC discussion forum, were analysed and categorized using machine learning and data analysis. The results obtained in this study show that it is possible to perform sentiment analysis with very high accuracy (94.1%), and it is also possible to periodically supervise the variations in learners' sentiments. The results of this study are very useful. In the context of online learning, it is very beneficial to have information about learner sentiment.

This study examined post-test performance and retention performance of students in mathematics when learned and problem-solving ability through educational video games and traditional lecture... Show More

This study examined post-test performance and retention performance of students in mathematics when learned and problem-solving ability through educational video games and traditional lecture method. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design. The sample was drawn from Alagappa Model Higher Secondary School in Karaikudi at Sivagangai district in southern Tamilnadu. Respondents were 90 students (46 boys and 44 girls). The findings revealed that there was a significant difference in the post-test scores, retention test scores, gender, and localities of experimental and control groups. The study concluded that educational video game learning significantly improves students' achievement and retention capacity. Therefore, the study recommended that this advent of learning that combines both face-to-face and online delivery can effectively be utilized in learning mathematics and problem solving to enhance the performance and retention among upper primary school students.

With the impacts of Covid-19 epidemic, e-learning has become a popular research issue. Therefore, how to upgrade the interactivity of e-learning, and allow learners to quickly access personalized... Show More

With the impacts of Covid-19 epidemic, e-learning has become a popular research issue. Therefore, how to upgrade the interactivity of e-learning, and allow learners to quickly access personalized and popular learning information from huge digital materials, is very important. However, chatbots are mostly used in automation, as well as simple occasions of general standard question and answer. But to solve the different problems of e-learners in the learning process, chatbots are used to filter the blind spots of learners and to provide further relevant information, so that e-learning can improve in efficiency and interactivity. This study utilizes AI, two-stage Bayesian algorithm, and crawler technology to provide customized learning materials according to learner's current learning situation. The experimental results show that this research system can indeed correctly understand and judge the blind spots of digital learners, and effectively find the relevant e-learning and video information. The accuracy rate reaches nearly 90%.

Post conflict is a term for category of developing countries from civil war, recent conflict, or security crisis. From extreme damaged infrastructure, they require significant help to provide... Show More

Post conflict is a term for category of developing countries from civil war, recent conflict, or security crisis. From extreme damaged infrastructure, they require significant help to provide security and development. Post-conflict countries, other than developing ones, they have not received much attention on development in information technology (IT) and modern education. Lack of technology use has manifested in on lower productivity and innovation. Regions with major roles of IT face industrial revolution. Kosovo is a case study for this research investigation on post-conflict countries known also as new born countries (NBC). Research will investigate students in primary, secondary, and tertiary education. Literature cases draw concerns of poor performance.

This paper applies the concept of a crowdsourcing campaign in the context of entrepreneurial education, and reports the perception of participants in such application in a large business school. The... Show More

This paper applies the concept of a crowdsourcing campaign in the context of entrepreneurial education, and reports the perception of participants in such application in a large business school. The classroom task is to prepare a crowdfunding campaign for their university in a freely available digital platform, having identified a relevant problem on campus. The problem identification is based on market research, where problems disrupting the school are found. To implement student's developed “solutions”, crowdsourcing campaigns are created to expose ideas to market validation, and nudge students to communicate with customers and suppliers. The ‘successful' perceptions of participants signal a large potential for this ‘exercise', as campaigns can be successful, leading to the creation of micro-organizations to run these projects and impact communities positively. Of course, future research should establish correlation between crowdsourcing campaigns and likelihood of starting businesses and social ventures.

In the context of education big data, it uses data mining and learning analysis technology to accurately predict and effectively intervene in learning. It is helpful to realize individualized... Show More

In the context of education big data, it uses data mining and learning analysis technology to accurately predict and effectively intervene in learning. It is helpful to realize individualized teaching and individualized teaching. This research analyzes student life behavior data and learning behavior data. A model of student behavior characteristics is constructed, and a robust multi-task learning method is used to construct an academic prediction model. According to the prediction results, different intervention measures are taken for students with academic excellence and academic difficulties. Finally, it takes the one-semester blended teaching course of a certain university as an example. The research results show that in terms of predictive models, through the analysis of student behavior characteristics data, the model can accurately identify the learning status of students. In terms of intervention, it can play a positive role in promoting students with high learning and can effectively promote students with learning difficulties.

Peer interaction to assist and learn from each other has been extended online in recent times. This study was conducted to find the pattern of participation in integrated peer-assisted learning and... Show More

Peer interaction to assist and learn from each other has been extended online in recent times. This study was conducted to find the pattern of participation in integrated peer-assisted learning and to investigate factors known to affect such participation among students in their peer-assisted learning clusters. The pattern of participation was established through the frequency with which the respondent use their preferred mode of peer interaction. Structural equation modeling was implemented to study the relationship between participation and the factors considered. Social medial is the most prevalent among the online means of interaction considered. Conflict, cohesion and effective leadership in the clusters have more direct effects on the other factors considered. The frequency of participation does not correlate significantly with the other personal and interpersonal factors considered. These findings suggest that the decision for voluntary participation in peer-assisted learning clusters are possibly driven by other factors such as academic.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia facing the Covid-19 pandemic, as it is trying with all its efforts to pursue higher education in its universities and schools through distance learning. The current... Show More

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia facing the Covid-19 pandemic, as it is trying with all its efforts to pursue higher education in its universities and schools through distance learning. The current research tried to investigate Taif University experience in distance learning and the effectiveness of BlackBoard in pursuing education in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic from the viewpoints of teachers and students. To achieve this goal, the descriptive survey approach was used. Two questionnaires were designed A random sample was chosen from all colleges of the University The sample consisted of (240) faculty members and 804 students. The results showed great effectiveness of BlackBoard in pursuing education from the viewpoints of faculty members, and to a very great degree from the students' point of view. No impact of the two variables (gender, rank) appeared in the viewpoints of faculty members in that effectiveness. male students’ viewpoints were higher than those of females, and the viewpoints of master's students were higher than those of undergraduate students on this effectiveness.

Learning data analytics improves the learning field in higher education using educational data for extracting useful patterns and making better decision. Identifying potential at-risk students may... Show More

Learning data analytics improves the learning field in higher education using educational data for extracting useful patterns and making better decision. Identifying potential at-risk students may help instructors and academic guidance to improve the students’ performance and the achievement of learning outcomes. The aim of this research study is to predict at early phases the student’s failure in a particular course using the standards-based grading. Several machines learning techniques were implemented to predict the student failure based on Support Vector Machine, Multilayer Perceptron, Naïve Bayes, and decision tree. The results on each technique shows the ability of machine learning algorithms to predict the student failure accurately after the third week and before the course dropout week. This study provides a strong knowledge for student performance in all courses. It also provides faculty members the ability to help student at-risk by focusing on them and providing necessary support to improve their performance and avoid failure.

The application of Information Technology (IT) in education has opened new scenarios for this ancient process. With rapidly changing field of IT, the adoption of IT in education has been changed... Show More

The application of Information Technology (IT) in education has opened new scenarios for this ancient process. With rapidly changing field of IT, the adoption of IT in education has been changed drastically. It is quite difficult for researchers to keep pace with changing research trends. An analysis based on the keywords could provide a synopsis on the use of IT in education. The keywords can be extracted and clustered to draw a sketch of trend changes over time. In this paper, we propose two empirical methods based on classic TF/IDF, i.e., overall rating (OR) and dynamic character (DC) of a keyword for in-depth keyword analysis to examine changing trends in research. The method help in disclosing time based changes in research focuses by comparing TF/IDF weights of keywords in different years. A total of 8131 scholarly articles from 12 well recognized journals were used in this analysis. The analysis shows that proposed methods provide sufficient insight into the research trends of application of IT in education in 11 years, i.e., 2007-2017.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) aim at unlimited participation and open access via the web. There are concerns about the actual value of such courses. This is predominantly due to higher dropout... Show More

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) aim at unlimited participation and open access via the web. There are concerns about the actual value of such courses. This is predominantly due to higher dropout rates. According to studies, only 7-13% go on to complete these courses. The high dropout rate in MOOCs is a challenge for education providers. This paper aims to explore reasons for high dropout rates within MOOCs and how they can be minimized. With this in mind, two research questions have been set for this study: 1) Why do MOOC participants not complete their courses? 2) How can the course completion rate be increased? Implementation of the strategies investigated in this paper can increase completion rates in MOOCs. In conclusion, after analyzing the collected data, the final results have shown that gamification increased the completion rate of MOOCs.

This study makes an original contribution to the literature on social media usage for learning purposes through the phenomenological approach of enquiry. It examined the general motivations for... Show More

This study makes an original contribution to the literature on social media usage for learning purposes through the phenomenological approach of enquiry. It examined the general motivations for social media usage; how social media is used to meet academic needs; perceived academic benefits; and how social media usage disrupts studies. A total of 24 undergraduate students were engaged in rigorous focus group discussions. Results showed that social media has been adapted to suit the academic needs of users through the process of appropriation. It was found that although social media could be a viable platform for inter-university-collaborative-learning, respondents hardly engaged in that. It was suggested that students create inter-university social media groups for collaborative learning. There were accounts of negative implications of using social media, like addiction and distractions. Students must adopt tactics to handle distractions which could prove helpful in out-of-school settings like the workplace.

This study investigates the level of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Morocco. It explores the effects of EFL teachers' personal... Show More

This study investigates the level of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Morocco. It explores the effects of EFL teachers' personal and technology-related variables in ICT use in English high school classes. The study opts for a descriptive and an analytical method to account for this claim. Therefore, a mixed-methods approach is used. A survey questionnaire and interviews are conducted to obtain a corpus of data that is both representative and reliable. The sample of our study consists of thirty teachers of English in six high schools in the city of Meknes. The findings indicate that ICT integration in the EFL classes in Morocco is hampered due to different variables. Interior variables refer to the teacher's attitude and dilemma towards using ICT; while exterior ones are strongly associated with the lack of ICT facilities and ICT related equipment in the Moroccan high schools.

The concept-knowledge theory or C-K design theory explains that creativity is the conceptualization of design that is independent of any other design domain. It explains innovation, creation, and... Show More

The concept-knowledge theory or C-K design theory explains that creativity is the conceptualization of design that is independent of any other design domain. It explains innovation, creation, and discovery within the framework of design processes. Creativity is an integral part of engineering design. The QFD methodology is applied to construct the “engineering design and creativity course” at the faculty of engineering as per the various stakeholders of curriculum design. The suggested methodology satisfies accreditation requirements as a part of continuous improvement of curriculum. The QFD course design methodology integrates the learning outcome with the assessment methodologies, learning processes and knowledge elements well. The course is a strategic fit with the vision 2030 and curriculum. The course development methodology as suggested minimize learning deficiencies. It is measured by course mapping with learning outcome.

In these times of Covid-19 pandemic, many Moroccan students access websites for their school support needs. The objective of this study is to carry out an evaluation of some Moroccan free school... Show More

In these times of Covid-19 pandemic, many Moroccan students access websites for their school support needs. The objective of this study is to carry out an evaluation of some Moroccan free school support websites and to verify their effectiveness for learners, from a socio-constructivist perspective. This evaluation is conducted out by various teachers, using an evaluation grid developed by the authors following a review of literature that identified a number of elements considered as important factors for the proper functioning of an educational website. The approach adopted allowed the grid to be validated (Cronbach's alpha equal to 0.82). The results of the evaluation show several positive aspects but also some weaknesses inherent to the studied websites, especially concerning help with work methodology and pedagogical guidance and also the interactivity. Finally, several recommendations are proposed by the authors.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities have moved a large portion of their classes online. To better support students’ online learning activities and to best resemble the face-to-face... Show More

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities have moved a large portion of their classes online. To better support students’ online learning activities and to best resemble the face-to-face setting, the technology-supported, synchronous remote learning platform was adopted in most cases. In this study, we aim to investigate factors that could influence students’ learning in this new environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, a research model was developed and tested with 428 students. The result showed that students’ IT competence had a significant impact on their learning satisfaction, while social influence had a significant impact on their intention to use the remote learning technology in future classes. As to technology facilitating conditions, significant impacts were found from it (at both institution and student levels) to learning satisfaction. We also found that COVID-19 related mental impacts could influence students’ satisfaction on and intention to use the remote learning technology.

Within the scope of this study, it is aimed to determine the usability of the Internet of Things Technology in open and distance learning environments. In this context, the phenomenology method was... Show More

Within the scope of this study, it is aimed to determine the usability of the Internet of Things Technology in open and distance learning environments. In this context, the phenomenology method was used in order to get the opinions of field experts. The criterion sampling method, which is one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used in determining the participants. As a criterion, it is taken into account that the participants are experts in the field of open and distance learning. In this context, 8 field experts contributed to the study. The findings obtained at the end of the study, internet of things technology; It clarifies how it can be used in traditional face-to-face learning environments and open and distance learning environments, what benefits it can provide, what are its limitations, its future usage trends, and how it can be used outside of learning environments.