Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology

Editorial Volume 48 Issue 2

2023-01-12T15:36:51-07:00

The field of education technology, and related subject areas attendant to it, welcomed millions of new participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to UNESCO, the education experiences of more than 1.4 billion students were disrupted in ways that will impact them, and those around them, for years to come. This journal has a significant role to play for documenting these experiences and the research that followed. Evidence about the use of learning technologies for learning in many new education spaces and geographic places is now available. Interest in the topic of technology-enabled learning has increased exponentially and submissions documenting these new experiences, insights, research findings, and practice applications have continued to grow. Our journal supports scholars long involved in, or new to the topic of, technology-enabled learning design and delivery.

The Academic Integrity Technological Arms Race and its Impact on Learning, Teaching, and Assessment

2022-12-09T10:12:21-07:00

This essay discusses the technological arms race that has developed in response to academic cheating. The author highlights three technological advances that impact academic integrity, from oldest to newest: a) text-matching software, b) online exam proctoring software, and c) artificial intelligence and Large Language Models (LLMs). This essay argues that there is no “silver bullet” to preventing or investigating academic misconduct and that our ethical obligations for learning, teaching, and assessment must include a human focus to promote student success.

Editorial

2022-10-27T16:36:53-06:00

This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Learning Technology contains articles presented at the Rethinking Online Education in the Knowledge Society with Emerging Technology Symposium jointly hosted by Beijing Normal University, Athabasca University, and Chongqing Open University in November 2021. The symposium was organized by the Chongqing Open University, China.

Editorial

2022-07-29T12:57:45-06:00

The pandemic experience has, to date, been inspiring, illuminating, and challenging for the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology editors, authors, and reviewers. We are ready to present the following overview of issue 48(1).

Learning, Technology, and Technique

2022-05-14T15:17:19-06:00

To be human is to be a user, a creator, a participant, and a co-participant in a richly entangled tapestry of technologies – from computers to pedagogical methods - that make us who we are as much as our genes. The uses we make of technologies are themselves, nearly always, also technologies, techniques we add to the entangled mix to create new assemblies. The technology of greatest interest is thus not any of the technologies that form that assembly, but the assembly itself. Designated teachers are never alone in creating the assembly that teaches. The technology of learning almost always involves the co-participation of countless others, notably learners themselves but also the creators of systems, artifacts, tools, and environments with and in which it occurs. Using these foundations, this paper presents a framework for understanding the technological nature of learning and teaching, through which it is possible to explain and predict a wide range of phenomena, from the value of one-to-one tutorials, to the inadequacy of learning style theories as a basis for teaching, and to see education not as a machine made of methods, tools, and systems but as a complex, creative, emergent collective unfolding that both makes us, and is made of us.

Editorial

2022-03-29T16:45:14-06:00

We are pleased to publish the final 2021 issue of CJLT/RCAT which includes five empirical articles and a book review. Articles focus on teacher professional development and the use of technology in teaching and learning in elementary, secondary, and higher education.

Collectively, CJLT Volume 47 Issue 3, 2021 brings together research findings from Africa (Tunisia, Kenya, and Nigeria), Asia (India), and Canada in primary, secondary, and higher education. CJLT has supported the advancement of research on teaching and learning with digital technologies in Canada and around the world and will continue to do so in the coming years. We hope that you will find in our journal some answers to the many questions that have arisen from the pedagogical transformations that have been necessary over the past two years to adapt to the pandemic context, and which open the door to pedagogical innovations in the future.

We sincerely thank our reviewers for their time in reviewing the manuscripts.

Artificial Intelligence in the Fourth Industrial Revolution to Educate for Sustainable Development

2022-05-21T10:15:28-06:00

There has been increasing interest in the use of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as artificial intelligence to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Recently, multilateral organizations have sponsored initiatives to make countries aware of the benefits of using artificial intelligence for sustainable development and to educate citizens to improve quality of life. This paper explores aspects of employing artificial intelligence for sustainable development, with a focus on lifelong learning, and inclusive and equitable quality education. Data are drawn from a thematic review of 32 academic peer-reviewed journal articles and interviews with six international experts. Findings include examples of benefits and challenges of artificial intelligence to address sustainable development and education.

It’s Happy Hour Somewhere: Videoconferencing Guidelines for Traversing Time and Space

2022-07-30T10:06:45-06:00

Time seems to be moving at lightning speed with busyness unsustainably being “celebrated” and not allowing for sufficiently deep interaction with learning content, others, and the experience of which we are part, including our interactions in videoconferencing sessions. One benefit of videoconferencing is that it can address time and distance boundaries. With this advantage also comes a challenge - the pressures of time and time not being used purposefully often negatively impact the online learning experience and the digital wellness of its participants. Considering that, the reported study inquired: what are the videoconferencing guidelines in relation to temporal space to support digital wellness in online learning in higher education? Drawing on a systematic review of the relevant literature of the last decade, temporal guidelines have been distilled to promote the design of videoconferencing-based learning that is conducive to successful learning while maintaining digital well-being. The article organizes the literature review findings according to the categories identified through the secondary data analysis of its three preceding studies. Based upon 42 articles that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria in the first phase of the research design, we negotiated and determined thirteen temporal guideline themes described as time management, essentialism, purposefulness, agility, social presence, attention, inclusion, cooperation, respect, technology preparedness, creativity, evaluation, and safety. Further research is recommended to explore the various aspects of design in more depth and tackle the less frequently addressed themes of creativity, evaluation, and safety, focusing on pedagogy and human-centred approaches.

Removing Learning Barriers in Self-paced Online STEM Education

2022-04-01T09:46:51-06:00

Self-paced online learning provides great flexibility for learning, yet it brings some inherent learning barriers because of the nature of this educational paradigm. This review paper suggests some corresponding strategies to address these barriers in order to create a more supportive self-paced online learning environment. These strategies include a) increasing students’ self-awareness of learning, b) identifying struggling students, and c) facilitating mastery learning.Focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines’ delivery of self-paced online learning, this paper reviewed the role of formative assessment for learning. It is proposed that systematically designing and embedding adaptive practicing in STEM courses would be an effective learning design solution to implement these strategies. By examining the goals and context of adaptive practicing requested in this study, the feature requirements are depicted for such an adaptive practicing model. The models and techniques that can be used for adaptive assessment were then reviewed. Based on the review results, this paper argues that a reinforcement learning-based adaptive practicing model would be the best option to meet those feature requirements. Finally, we point out a research gap in this field and suggest a future research direction for ourselves and other researchers.

Defining and Exploring Broadband Connections and Education Solutions in Canada’s North

2022-04-14T11:22:38-06:00

The use of technology and need for connection across distance permeates all education environments; nowhere is this more important than in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Broadband and telecommunications issues within the Northwest Territories are complex due to its vast geographical area and community dispersion, making connectivity and accessibility inconsistent. Due to these conditions, the North relies on a variety of broadband solutions to improve Internet speeds and access to education at a distance. This paper analyzes the impacts that broadband capacity and Internet access have on remote education by examining geographic information system data, which offers a framework that connects spatial and temporal data to analyse accessibility of remote education. Characteristics such as spatial location of communities, infrastructure (road systems), and the overlay of various broadband options will illustrate constraints and (dis)connectivity in various regions and inform readers about the complexity of remote connections. Analysis of current upload and download speeds from various regions and their impact on access to education supports geospatial data and analysis that the digital divide in remote regions of Canada has increased and is widening. Improving equitable access to postsecondary education will require a greater reliance on technology-enabled practices to improve learning opportunities.

Designing Knowledge Dissemination in a Digital Era – Analysing TED Talk’s Multimodal Orchestration

2022-02-11T09:02:29-07:00

Online learning has gained increasing attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers face social exigencies to design ways of knowledge dissemination in online instruction. We posit that understanding how knowledge can be represented in successful online academic genres can inform teachers on how they can design students’ online learning experiences. This study examined how scientific knowledge is disseminated in one of the most widespread academic genres, TED Talks, which share discoursal similarities with other academic genres such as online lectures. This study adopted a systemic functional multimodal discourse analysis approach to explore how a presenter used speech, images, and gestures to disseminate knowledge. The analysis shows that a presenter orchestrates speech, images, and gestures strategically to clarify the scientific ideas and engage the audience. Based on understanding how the three semiotic modes are used to disseminate scientific knowledge in accessible and engaging ways, this paper discusses how insights on multimodal orchestration can function as a heuristic tool to inform design in online learning.

Cognification in Learning, Teaching, and Training

2022-07-30T10:04:40-06:00

Over the past decade, opportunities for online learning have dramatically increased. Learners around the world now have digital access to a wide array of corporate trainings, certifications, comprehensive academic degree programs, and other educational and training options. Some organizations are blending traditional instruction methods with online technologies. Blended learning generates large volumes of data about both the content (quality and usage) and the learners (study habits and learning outcomes). Correspondingly, the need to properly process voluminous, continuous, and often disparate data has prompted the advent of cognification. Cognification techniques design complex data analytic models that allow natural intelligence to engage artificial smartness in ways that can enhance the learning experience. Cognification is the approach to make something increasingly, ethically, and regulatably smarter. This article highlights how emerging trends in cognification could disrupt online education.

The Interconnectivity of Heutagogy and Education 4.0 in Higher Online Education

2022-04-01T11:07:38-06:00

Industry 4.0 advancements in technology are creating a dynamic and fast changing world that affects how we live and work. Educators need to rethink existing teaching approaches to better prepare learners for future careers that Industry 4.0 will create. The World Economic Forum defined a new education model, called Education 4.0, which contains eight major changes to redefine learning in the new economy. Heutagogy, or self-determined learning, is an approach that promotes critical thinking, social-emotional skills, and life-long learning. These skills are necessary for Education 4.0. The purpose of this paper is to recommend the principles of heutagogy as an effective teaching and learning approach to meet the needs of Education 4.0. The approach of the study examines existing literature on Education 4.0 and heutagogy. A conceptual model that interconnects heutagogy to the four learning principles of Education 4.0 will be offered as a key finding to answer the research question: How does heutagogy in higher online education meet the needs of Education 4.0? The paper provides a base for further research and discussion into how heutagogy and other approaches can support the needs of Education 4.0 to prepare learners for a changing world.

Dynamic Evolution Analysis of Social Network in cMOOC Based on RSiena Model

2022-04-18T09:19:04-06:00

The network is a key concept which has been highly valued in connectivism. Research about the static characteristics of social networks in connectivist learning has been carried out in recent years, however, little knowledge exists regarding the principles of network evolution from a dynamic perspective. This article chose the first connectivist massive open and online course (cMOOC) in China, “Internet plus Education: Dialogue between Theory and Practice” as the research object, using the dynamic analysis method of social networks which is based on stochastic actor-oriented models, to reveal the influence of the individual attributes and network structural attributes on the dynamic evolution of social networks in a cMOOC. We found that: 1) the learners with the same sex, the same social identity, and the same type of behaviour tendency found it much easier to interact with each other; 2) there is a heterogeneous phenomenon with course identity, meaning that compared to communicating with other learners, learners are more inclined to reply to a facilitator; and 3) the reciprocity and transitivity have significant effects on social network evolution. This study is valuable for understanding the network evolution and has implications for the improvement of cMOOC design, in turn improving the online learning experience for cMOOC learners.

Theoretical Development of Connectivism through Innovative Application in China

2022-08-06T14:04:22-06:00

As a learning theory that reveals a new learning in the Internet environment, connectivism 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, adapting a connectivist (cMOOC) approach in China. Using the data collected from six offerings of the cMOOC over 3 years, the big data paradigm was used for data analysis including complex network analysis, content analysis, text mining, behaviour sequence analysis, epistemic network analysis, and statistical and econometric models. This paper summarizes the findings of the patterns of connectivist learning, including a) the basic characteristics and evolutional patterns of complex networks, b) the characteristics and modes of knowledge production, c) the patterns of instructional interactions, and d) the relationships between pipe and content and between facilitators and learners. It is expected that the outcome of this study could make contributions to understanding the changes of online learning in depth and further promote the theoretical development and practical application of a connectivist approach.

A Typology Proposition of Effective Visual Programming Practices

2022-05-09T13:41:49-06:00

This article presents the results of a multiple-case study conducted with 18 primary school students in Quebec, Canada. The objective of this study was to propose a typology of effective visual programming practices of primary school students. In addition to offering a detailed portrait of the practices mobilized by the students in this research, we present a typology of visual programming tasks for primary school students based on the literature and on empirical data from the use of a pedagogical scenario which allows students to mobilize their skills by programming a humanoid robot called NAO. This proposal for a comprehensive and adapted typology offers a significant pedagogical potential, whether for the design of pedagogical scenarios mobilizing visual programming in primary education, or for the development of textbooks or pedagogical guides for primary school students or teachers.

Teaching Architectural Technology Knowledge Using Virtual Reality Technology

2022-09-01T08:12:57-06:00

Construction detail (CD) knowledge is one of the leading learning components in architectural technology (AT) study. The traditional pedagogical method adopts a series of two-dimensional drawings to explain three-dimensional objects. The interactive and immersive features of virtual reality (VR) technology attract attention from the educational sector. While architectural design education has begun exploring integrating VR tools in the classroom, especially in the early design stage, AT is one of the very few subjects that have experimented with VR. This research, undertaken from within a larger, ongoing project, aimed to explore if VR could assist in teaching AT knowledge, especially CD. The project has two phases: phase 1 created several VR lessons that explained specific AT knowledge, using a VR technology currently available for educational purposes; phase 2 adopted a mixed method approach to investigate learners’ experience with the VR lessons created. This paper focuses on the experience in building up a VR learning environment in phase 1. The initial findings after phase 1 showed that the VR technology adopted in this project was not a perfect tool in creating a VR experience in the CD field but could still offer students degrees of virtual reality learning experience.

Analysis of the Status and Influencing Factors of Online Learning

2022-04-11T08:53:06-06:00

During the COVID-19 prevention and control period, large-scale online education was the largest digital transformation practice in education in human history. This study launched a questionnaire survey on primary and high school students. The survey was conducted from four aspects: demographics, online learning preparation, the online learning situations, and online learning experience. This study thoroughly investigated the status and problems of students’ online learning and analysed the characteristics of students’ online learning and the differences amongst grades. The study found that students have high adaptability and continuance intention to online learning.

This study found that students also had some learning difficulties in the process of online learning, mainly manifested by lack of interaction, difficulty in concentration, and lack of learning initiative. There were significant differences among different grades. The overall situation of junior high school students’ online learning is better than that of primary school students and senior high school students.

Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning, 2021.

2021-12-21T17:25:27-07:00

Teaching Machines by journalist Audrey Watters blends the historical and political events of 1920-1960s in the United States and the changes in the K-12 school system, chronicling the rapid development of educational technology markets to show the inception and evolution of teaching machines. The author expresses her indignance towards Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who continue launching educational businesses, under the assumption that their “new” technological breakthrough will change the “stagnant” field of education technology. This book explicates how the “new idea” of personalized learning offered by current educational technology companies and industries dates back a century to the 1920s.

Creating Online Learning Experiences: A Brief Guide to Online Courses, from Small and Private to Massive and Open, 2018

2021-12-09T11:40:11-07:00

This book is an expanded version of a guide originally written by the lead author, Matt Crosslin, to serve as a resource for faculty. The book shares lessons learned as the author designed Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other online courses for the now defunct LINK Research Lab at University of Texas Arlington. At the time of writing the book, Crosslin worked as a Learning Innovation Researcher at the LINK Lab. This expanded version of the book is an Open Educational Resource (OER) (also available in print) with contributions from other authors or contributors that bring diverse perspectives to reach a wider audience. The information and advice in this book is firmly rooted in the experiences of the contributors developing successful online courses, and the ultimate goal is to “provide clarity about many of the steps required to propose and design a course, describe the resources needed, and to explain the roles of stakeholders” (p.1).