Catálogo de publicaciones - revistas

<jats:p>This study examined the social climate of fully synchronous online English classrooms and its effects on students’ learning outcomes in a mixed-methods design, engaging 196 first-year non-English major students experiencing their first fully synchronous online English classes on Zoom in one academic term (12 weeks), taught by foreign lecturers. The results reveal a very positive learning experience with seven factors contributing to the social climate of the online English classrooms. Gender did not affect students’ perceptions and learning experiences, but English proficiency levels did, with a medium effect size. The social climate was a predictor of online English learning outcomes with a substantial effect size. Individual insights were extracted from the qualitative data.   Implications for practice or policy: Online English courses should provide the same learning quality as in a face-to-face environment by enhancing the seven factors constructing a positive online English classroom climate. Educational policymakers should emphasise building positive social climates in online classrooms as it will lead to both better learning outcomes and experiences. Teachers may be encouraged to develop the skills students need to recognise and manage emotions, establish and maintain relationships and achieve positive goals in online English learning. </jats:p>

<jats:p>This research examined the impact of supplementing a learning management system, Moodle, with communication tools, Discord and Teams, to support communication in blended and distance undergraduate courses in computer science, information technology, mathematics and statistics at a New Zealand university with well-established use of Moodle. Nineteen students participated in semi-structured interviews. Findings show that adding Discord or Teams increases information and knowledge exchange and helps students to connect with peers and teachers in their courses. Teams was beneficial particularly in settings with formal group work. Discord, which enables both students and staff to set up additional communication channels that are not restricted to course enrolments, was instrumental in connecting students across year levels with peers and alumni. This enabled discussions on course selection, career options and disciplinary topics beyond the course curriculum. Importantly, these beyond-course communication spaces nurtured belonging to wider discipline and study communities. The research establishes the importance of the increased levels of communication by highlighting the effects on student learning and connections to others. Looking beyond the specific tools, the level of formality and the degree of student co-ownership are identified as key factors in supporting the within- and beyond-course communication spaces. Implications for practice or policy: Learning management systems provide valuable course support but do not meet all learning and teaching communication needs, partly due to their formal and university-controlled nature. Educators and students benefit from using strong chat tools with improved information and knowledge exchange. Both educators and students experience enhanced belonging when using collaboration and chat tools. Students value Discord’s informality and student-led characteristics. Educators who use Teams to support formal group work must carefully manage integration with Moodle. </jats:p>

<jats:p>The implications for practice or policy section of AJET journal articles provides authors with an opportunity to translate their research for the readers who will ultimately use this research for change. In this editorial we discuss considerations for this with respect to the characterisation of educational technology research, the challenges in reporting on innovations in and with technology, and the institutional context of policymakers. Finally we unpack a core question for consideration by the ASCILITE community and beyond: how can the research published in AJET best be used to provide evidence for change in practice or policy?</jats:p>

<jats:p>Technologies are ubiquitous in the 21st century, and educators need to integrate relevant technologies into their teaching practices to meet stakeholders’ expectations and keep abreast with the accounting profession’s advancement. A mixed-method approach of quantitative and qualitative techniques was used in this study, with the latest version of the SPSS software (version 26) and NVivo software to analyse the data. The results depict the accounting educators’ usage efforts of 21st century educational technology tools and platforms; it is neither highly prevalent nor optimised. Future researchers could expand the investigation of 21st century educational technology by utilising the proposed constructs, model and hypotheses from this study’s qualitative findings. The study revives the stagnant educational technology literature in accounting education and explicates technology usage issues in accounting education, specifically in developing countries and the Asian region. Implications for practice or policy: Education ministries, higher education institutions, faculties, policymakers and academics should encourage educators to adopt and integrate 21st century educational technology into their practices. The integration of 21st century educational technology in teaching and learning practice should align with individual attributes, technology characteristics and organisational factors. Accounting educators must acquire technological competence through appropriate professional development and training programmes. </jats:p>

<jats:p>This research is unique to a Vietnamese higher education institution that adopted blended learning using Coursera MOOCs. Employing the service quality model, the objective was to investigate factors affecting the continuance intention and recommendation to others towards blended learning using Coursera MOOCs. This study was conducted an online survey with 637 students across four campuses of a Vietnamese higher education institution. The results of the structural equation modeling showed that the learning content and online responsiveness increased satisfaction with Coursera MOOCs whereas online reliability did not affect satisfaction with Coursera MOOCs. There were also positive relationships between empathy, tangibles, classroom responsiveness, and classroom activities. Assurance and classroom reliability had no significant impacts on classroom activities. Satisfaction and classroom activities positively influenced the continuance intention towards blended learning using Coursera MOOCs. Lastly, satisfaction, classroom activities, and continuance intention significantly affected the recommendation to others towards blended learning using Coursera MOOCs. Implications for practice or policy: A case study process for evaluating the quality of the blended learning using Coursera MOOCs is detailed. Practical recommendations are made for curriculum development, teaching and learning, assessment, and professional development as universities implement the blended learning using MOOCs. </jats:p>

<jats:p>From being largely at the margins of higher education for many years, online learning now finds itself in the mainstream. This paper offers a critique of the online learning literature both pre- and post-2020, looking at changes in response to this shift. Evidence tells us that online learning plays a significant role in enhancing student equity, widening higher education access and participation for many students who would have found it difficult, if not impossible, to attend university on campus. This includes students from government-identified equity backgrounds, as well as other student cohorts underrepresented at university, such as older working students, parents, and others with caring responsibilities, and those from families with no previous experience of university. The mainstreaming and normalising of online learning now presents an opportunity for universities to learn from both past and emerging evidence, to evaluate past practice and offer a more flexible learning experience that better meets the needs of an even wider range of students. Keeping online learning firmly in the mainstream, while taking an evidence-based approach to ensuring the quality of its design and delivery, has the potential to enhance student equity on a much broader scale. Implications for practice or policy: Improving the quality of online learning, using evidence-based research to design and deliver it more effectively, will enable more students to stay and succeed at university. Continuing to offer online study options for all students, that is, keeping it in the mainstream, will further enhance student equity. Mainstreaming online learning options as part of standard university practice will enable more students to benefit from the greater flexibility of both fully online and hybrid models. </jats:p>

<jats:p>After two years of change and uncertainty in tertiary education, in 2022 the editorial team of AJET saw a return to a focus on research that explores educational technology use in a range of learning and teaching environments. It has also been an interesting year in terms of the changing academic publishing environment and the opportunities and challenges facing AJET as a leading educational technology journal. In this end-of-year editorial we will look at what has been published in AJET throughout 2022, the bibliometrics that help characterise the journal’s role in the field, and consider the trends that are emerging for academic publishing and their impact on how AJET develops into the future. </jats:p>

<jats:p>COVID-19 has brought new hybrid learning environments with some students in the classroom and some others online, synchronously, due to the needs of social distancing. These new hybrid learning environments pose new challenges, for example for group collaboration. This paper presents Smart Groups, a system aimed at helping teachers to orchestrate collaboration in hybrid learning environments and assesses its usability and usefulness through a simulation study. Smart Groups identifies the students that are in the classroom and online, automates the creation of groups (recommending collaborative learning flow patterns to teachers and considering the previous work done by students), supports the communication among students and the use of additional tools and resources for collaboration, and helps maintain the safety distance among the students who are in the classroom. The usability of Smart Groups has been assessed through a mock-up by 60 users (41 students and 19 teachers) with the system usability scale (SUS) obtaining good results (mean = 75.47, standard deviation = 14.95, median = 76.25). A subgroup (10 teachers out of 19) carried out follow-up interviews using the technology acceptance model (TAM) and highlighted the usefulness of Smart Groups to orchestrate collaboration in hybrid learning environments. Implications for practice or policy: Smart Groups supports teachers in the orchestration of groups in hybrid learning environments. Smart Groups facilitates group coordination and communication among students. Smart Groups helps maintain the safety distance. </jats:p>

<jats:p>The purpose of this study was to investigate whether gender differences exist in relationships between the three presences – teaching, cognitive and social – in the community of inquiry (CoI) model and online students’ learning experiences measured with perceived learning and course satisfaction. Participants were 657 undergraduates taking online courses at a university in South Korea. Results showed significant differences in sub-elements of cognitive and social presence by gender. In addition, regression analyses revealed that sub-elements of the CoI predicted online students’ perceived learning and course satisfaction differently by gender. A discussion explains gender differences in online courses in South Korea in which a prerecorded video was the principal modality of learning. Finally, practical implications to enhance diverse students’ success are proposed from the perspective of the CoI model. Implications for practice or policy: Despite the development of the CoI specifically for a discussion-based online course, it can still be used to predict students’ learning experiences in video-based online learning. Considering gender difference when designing and developing an online course may enhance student learning experiences in online learning. Changing the way the videos are created may contribute to enhancing the three presences in the CoI model, which essentially improve online students’ learning experiences. </jats:p>

<jats:p>Students from diverse backgrounds report that time pressures, financial responsibilities, caring commitments, and geographic location are barriers to their uptake of work integrated learning (WIL). Through interviews with 32 students and 15 educators who participated in online WIL, we investigated whether online WIL might be one way of overcoming these barriers. Benefits of online WIL for students included employability skills, meaningful work, affordability, and flexibility when coping with health issues. Challenges for students included missing out on workplace interactions, digital access, and finding a private space in which to work. Students from diverse backgrounds were viewed by educators as bringing positive contributions to the workplace. Educators found challenges in giving feedback and not being able to replicate some aspects of in-person workplaces. We conclude with recommendations on how online WIL might be enhanced to better meet the needs of students facing equity issues. Implications for practice and policy: All participants in online WIL should be encouraged to intentionally view diversity as a strength. Educators need to create explicit opportunities for formal and informal interaction and network building during online WIL. Educators should provide engaging and purposeful work during online WIL. Students may need additional financial or material support to undertake online WIL, for example to enable digital access and access to a private workspace. </jats:p>