5 Academic Papers on EdTech You Must Read

Educators love to stay current in their field of study, and platforms like Academia.edu are great help for the same.

Thanks to Academia.edu, here’s a list of academic papers on educational technology that you might be interested in.

1) Holes in SOLEs: re-examining the role of EdTech and ‘minimally invasive education’ in language learning. – By Michal B. Paradowski

The paper addresses both the lessons that teaching language takes away from the lecture and the approach in general, and the crucial reasons why educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders should be cautious in its adoption. While the concept of school learning may have to undergo another overhaul, EdTech and SOLEs (self organized learning environments) are not a silver bullet or panacea for language teaching problems.

But to create conditions for balanced, comprehensive, holistic, systematic learning and make it productive, efficient and less frustrating, you need to select good content, pose the right, well thought-out questions, and priorities, structure and organize the process.

 ‘If pupils have to merely follow their and their peers, naturally narrow interests they are likely to get.’

To read the full paper: click here.

2) Integrating a Social Network Group with a 3-D Collaborative Learning Environment. – By Shaya Pourmirza and Victor Callaghan

Extensive research has been carried out on virtual learning environments and the role of groups and communities in social networks, few studies exist which adequately cover the relationship between these two domains.

In this paper, the authors demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating these two environments by creating a novel prototype and conducting a preliminary pilot evaluation session. For the Prototype system, a Facebook Group was utilized as a repository for learning content and the Open Wonderland platform was selected as a mixed reality intelligent environment for 3D virtual collaborative activities. To demonstrate this approach greater accessibility to the learning content is provided as it can be accessed from both the 3D world and the 2D Facebook Group. In other words, this system can support both synchronous interaction as well as asynchronous data retrieval. Finally, the prototype system was evaluated by means of a two-hour task-based assessment and user-satisfaction questionnaire. The key findings from this pilot study, and further ideas for the future refinement of the concepts are presented in this paper.

To read the full paper: click here.

3) Developing Professional Knowledge and Expertise in Education Technology: legacy, change and investment.- By Herman Schimmel and Richard Pountney

This editorial reviews the curricular and pedagogical development of the international MSc TELIC Programme and the work of the TELIC community. Issues associated with the role, effects and implications of technology in education are examined in the light of this mapping of a professional curriculum. The notions of learning enhancement, innovation and change that are prevalent at this time in professional contexts, and which shape understandings and actions of TELIC professionals, are used to reflect on contributions to this issue and what they indicate about the state of play in the community and beyond. The paper concludes by considering what response we might make to the need for knowledge building in the professional field of educational technology and how to investigate it.

To read the full paper: click here.  

4) Gaming and Gamification in Academic and Library Setting.- By Plamen Miltenoff

Games embody the essence of constructivism, which for students/gamers means constructing their own knowledge while they learn cooperatively. This paper explains that cooperative learning, added to experimental learning, enhances the learning process. Gaming and gamification of education is and will not be an easy process: ‘game with fun but poor content is not a wishful product and vice-versa, game with robust content, which does not engage student is equally impotent to achieve learning goals.’  Gaming for educational purposes should not be constrained only within consoles (e.g. Sony, Xbox, Nintendo), but also online games such as SimCity ‘EDU’ and MinCraft ‘EDU’ must be considered. A comprehensive approach to games and gamification is needed, which includes not only games with consoles and online games, but deep understanding of the BYOD movement and how to adapt the use of personal mobile devices toward game-based learning. Last but not least, the consideration of game-based learning process must plan the participation and ability of students to create learning games.

To read the full paper: click here.

5) Developing and Assessing Teachers’ Knowledge of Game based Learning. – By Aroutis foster and Mamta Shah

The main focus of the paper is on the development and assessment of teacher knowledge in game based learning. Various methods were conducted to educate pre-service teachers in game-based learning using the Game Network Analysis (GaNA) framework. Fourteen pre-service teachers completed a methods course. Surveys and tests were administered to assess participants’ acquired knowledge of GaNA.

Additional data was solicited using background surveys and focus group interviews to understand participants’ thoughts about game-based learning. The course had a large effect on participants’ acquired knowledge. Participants also reported change in their thoughts about the processes involved in incorporating game-based learning in K-12 classrooms. This included insights about teacher roles, game selection, and contextual factors that might impact the successful adoption of games in schools. GaNA may be beneficial for advancing the work of both teacher educators and game-based learning researchers in developing and assessing novice-expert teachers’ competence in adopting game-based learning.

To read the full paper: click here.   

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