Multi-Agent Systems for Education and Interactive Entertainment: Design, Use and Experience presents readers with a rich collection of ideas from researchers who are exploring the complex tradeoffs that must be made in designing agent systems for education and interactive entertainment. This book aims to provide a mixture of relevant theoretical and practical understanding of the use of multi-agent systems in educational and entertainment research, together with practical examples of the use of such systems in real application scenarios.

Based on 55 semi-structured in-depth interviews, this book investigates 15 high-tech engineering co-op professionals' writing experience in the workplace. It shows how the digital age has had a marked impact on the engineers' methods of communication at work, and how on-the -job writing has affected engineers' technical competence, shaped their professional identities, challenged their views on Chinese and English writing, and hindered their success in the workplace. The book identifies three aspects of writing practice: engineers' linguistic and literacy challenges, the reasons behind these challenges, and coping strategies, which suggest that engineers are underprepared and lack necessary support in the workplace. Lastly, the study shows that engineers need to engage in technical literacy through on-the-job writing so that they can fully deal with workplace discourse and socialize with diverse professional groups. Since the sample group interviewed in this book is engineers who studied at universities in the United States and have a foot in the world of school and work as well as knowledge of both Eastern and Western cultures, the book appeals to teachers, students, engineers and scientists who are interested in scientific and technological writing. It is also valuable for educators who prepare scientists, engineers, and technical communicators for professional roles, as well as for communication practitioners who work with engineers.

This book offers a thorough and comprehensive review of the lessons learnt from the award-winning 'English in Action' English language teacher development programme, which ran in government primary and secondary schools across Bangladesh from 2008 to 2017. Over the course of nine years the programme involved 51,000 teachers and 20 million school students, demonstrably raising standards of teachers' classroom practice and students' English language attainment, and won the British Council ELTON Award for Local innovation (2013) and Times Higher Education Award for International Impact (2107). The sixteen chapters explore the programme in detail, looking at both the successes and the challenges encountered throughout its course, including the strategies used to address the challenges. The key innovative factors of the programme include: * a positive choice to build on the existing context, such as the lives and experiences of local teachers and the demands of a nationally determined curriculum; * teacher learning taking place in the teachers' own classrooms; * a focus on learning the 'how' of communicative language teaching through reflective practice and peer support; * the use - within a carefully constructed pedagogy - of affordable, readily-available mobile phone technology; * the use of mediated authentic video * a model of teacher development at very large scale that provided a successful alternative to the'cascade'model; * a partnership with government institutions to ensure that improved practices are maintained beyond the life of the Programme.

Within the past decade, many higher education institutions have begun to offer degree programs online, but there are a lack of resources for institutions to rely on when choosing to introduce an online program. With the prevalence of technology in education, the importance of providing quality distance education programs cannot be ignored. Ensuring Quality and Integrity in Online Learning Programs is an essential reference source that delves into the requirements and essential technologies needed to create and encourage effective and inclusive online educational programs. The book examines and offers best practices for all factors that contribute to building quality online programs including faculty buy-in and training; student motivation, interest, and retention; program planning, pedagogy, and design; program administration; and the use of appropriate and up-to-date technology. Administrators, educators, online program directors, instructional designers, curriculum developers, faculty, researchers, and students will benefit from the emerging research contained within this publication.

Many take advantage of software and hardware accessibility in the English language. However, for non native speakers, this inevitably becomes a problem; specifically for the complex Bangla language which is not easily integrated into the world of technology. Technical Challenges and Design Issues in Bangla Language Processing addresses the difficulties as well as the overwhelming benefits associated with creating programmes and devices that are accessible to the speakers of the Bangla language. Professionals, students, and researchers interested in expanding the fields of computing, information and knowledge management, and communication technologies in the non-English realm will benefit from this comprehensive collection of research.

This volume includes contributions based on selected full papers presented at the 11th Pan-Hellenic and International Conference "ICT in Education", held in Greece in 2018. The volume includes papers covering technical, pedagogical, organizational, instructional, as well as policy aspects of ICT in Education and e-Learning. Special emphasis is given to applied research relevant to the educational practice guided by the educational realities in schools, colleges, universities and informal learning organizations. This volume encompasses current trends, perspectives, and approaches determining e-Learning and ICT integration in practice, including learning and teaching, curriculum and instructional design, learning media and environments, teacher education and professional development. It is based on research work originally presented at the conference, but the call for chapters was open and disseminated to the international community attracting also international contributions.

Moving beyond the 'Web 2.0' and 'digital native' rhetoric, this book addresses the complex experiences of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in a world embedded with interactive and participatory technologies. Adopting a sociocultural perspective, it investigates EFL learners' behaviours concerning digital technology, and guides exploration into their contextually mediated choices and learning practices in the '2.0' era. The argument is developed on the basis of the findings of a mixed sequential study that focused on 1485 Chinese undergraduates' use and non-use of online tools and applications outside the English classroom. Particular attention is paid to the role of context and agency when understanding their learning choices and behaviours in the context of digital technology. In particular, the book acknowledges the explanatory power of agency in the minority instances of 'good practices' among these EFL learners. At the same time it demonstrates that for most learners, use of the current web is limited and mostly non-interactive. The barriers to '2.0' transfer are largely contextual and the so-called 'communicative opportunities' and 'participatory culture' in particular did not fit into the learners' sociocultural context of (language) learning. Overall, the compelling argument proposes that the technology-facilitated changes in EFL practices are a 'bottom up' process that is taking place in day-to-day situations and constrained by the learning context within which the learner is situated. Based on these arguments, the book provides a framework that challenges the existing beliefs about (language) learning with online technology, and that contributes to our understanding of how context mediates EFL learners' behaviours surrounding digital technologies. It is a valuable resource for teachers, researchers and policy makers, providing them with insights into using digital technology to stimulate 'good learning practices' outside the classroom.

Every learner is on a trajectory, an individual path that involves choices and decisions about where to go next. The innovative thought of e-learning is reaching astronomical proportions and is becoming processed into these trajectories, usually under some sort of constraint. Control and Constraint in E-Learning: Choosing When to Choose answers the questions on how those constraints operate, how learning can be achieved, and particularly the role of education in that process.Control and Constraint in E-Learning: Choosing When to Choose unifies and synthesizes an assortment of theories about learner control, autonomy, self-direction, adult learning for educationalists, e-learning practitioners and e-learning developers. This ground-breaking research provides a theoretical approach to building computer systems to support adults learning via the Internet, existing e-learning environments and how they should be used, the process of education in general, and also offers something for anyone involved in learning and teaching.

Although institutions of higher education have recognized the need for preparing their graduates for a digitalized, global workplace, these efforts have been sporadic, individualized, and varied from discipline to discipline. Nevertheless, over the past 10 years, trends such as ""double classrooms,"" ""inverted classrooms,"" and ""collaborative online international learning"" (COIL) have gained traction at universities across the globe. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, efforts to engage students in the use of digital tools and virtual collaborative teamwork increased tenfold. Creative and innovative virtual learning environments (VLEs) have emerged, and instructors have used them to connect with their students much more frequently. The holistic nature of virtual learning, its impact on employability, and the development of global citizenry have become prime areas of research amongst the digital education landscape. Now more than ever, it is essential to look at virtual learning environments and how they can be used to prepare students and employees for the opportunities and challenges of a global, digital workplace. Developments in Virtual Learning Environments and the Global Workplace provides readers with a rationale and tool kit for facilitating virtual learning in a wide variety of contexts in response to the opportunities and challenges presented by the digital global workplace. This book covers virtual learning practices, the value of virtual learning for professionals and employers, and the best practices in online learning in different settings. Additionally, the chapters dive into the future perspectives and trends within virtual learning environments and the creation/evaluation of virtual learning strategies. These insights range from diverse countries, education levels, industry sectors, and academic disciplines, making this book a comprehensive research tool. This book will greatly benefit e-learning and instructional designers, university senior managers, university staff responsible for mobility and exchange, researchers, professionals responsible for organizational development and further education, human resource directors, global company executives, managers, practitioners, stakeholders, academicians, and students looking for information on how virtual learning environments are preparing students for the global workplace.

The Internet serves as an essential tool in promoting health awareness through the circulation of important research among the medical professional community. While digital tools and technologies have greatly improved healthcare, challenges are still prevalent among diverse populations worldwide. Emerging Technologies and Work-Integrated Learning Experiences in Allied Health Education is a critical scholarly resource that examines constructivist teaching methods and active learning strategies in allied health education to enhance student knowledge and prepare them for the digital age. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as e-learning, microscopic morphology, and virtual reality, this book is geared towards researchers, academicians, medical professionals, and upper level students interested in the advancement and dissemination of medical knowledge.

This special edition of the Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook Series bears a title of "Learning Environment and Design: Current and Future Impact". It provides a timely forum to share theoretical and practical insights in both the local and international contexts in response to the fact that new media and technologies have infiltrated and shaped the learning environments from mere physical spaces into multifaceted possibilities, impacting the ways individuals teach and learn. Designs of learning environments to harness technologies appropriately to engage learners better, as well as the roles of learners and educators play in this changing learning environment, are examples of important global issues in the discourse of the contemporary educational developments. Having gathered a diverse collection of research papers written by scholars and practitioners in the fields of education, communication and humanities across Asia, Australasia, Europe and the United States, this book gives readers a cross-cultural background on the developments of technological designs and educational practices, investigating areas in redefining of quality education; online learning and blended learning; new media in education; gamification, AI, and innovative learning technologies. Aimed to catalyze knowledge exchanges and provide fresh views on interdisciplinary research, the book sheds light on how emerging technologies can be adapted in the fields of education and communication, so as to facilitate the current and future designs of learning environments to improve learners' performances.

In today s businesses and society, social media continues to play a vital role in the transformation of communication into an interactive dialogue. The success of social media has encouraged the integration of these aspects in higher education teaching practices. Social Media in Higher Education: Teaching in Web 2.0 provides research on the pedagogical challenges faced in recent years in order to improve the understanding of social media in the educational systems. It will highlight the levels of education ranging from learning centered on the student to the collaboration between academic networks and organizations. This reference source is essential for practitioners, researchers, and students interested in gaining insight into educational institutions as well as academic communities and environments.

Educational technologies (e-learning environments or learning management systems for individual and collaborative learning, Internet resources for teaching and learning, academic materials in electronic format, specific subject-related software, groupware and social network software, etc.) are changing the way in which higher education is delivered. Teaching Mathematics Online: Emergent Technologies and Methodologies shares theoretical and applied pedagogical models and systems used in math e-learning including the use of computer supported collaborative learning, which is common to most e-learning practices. The book also forecasts emerging technologies and tendencies regarding mathematical software, learning management systems, and mathematics education online and presents up-to-date research work on how mathematics education is changing in a global and Web-based world.

Technology has had direct impact on education in increasing the way that society continues to learn. Applications of immersive environments, virtual worlds, and augmented reality have significant implications for how teaching and learning are achieved in contemporary education. Immersive Environments, Augmented Realities and Virtual Worlds: Assessing Future Trends in Education brings together current research and performance in trends in education. While examining cyber behavior and the use of virtual worlds, immersive technologies and augmented realities aim to improve teaching and enhancing learning.

Mobile phones have become an integral part of society, as their convenience has helped democratize and revolutionize communication and the marketplace of ideas. Because of their ubiquity in higher education, undergraduate classrooms have begun to utilize smartphones and tablets as tools for learning. The Handbook of Research on Mobile Devices and Applications in Higher Education Settings explores and fosters new perspectives on the use of mobile applications in a classroom context. This timely publication will demonstrate the challenges that universities face when introducing new technologies to students and instructors, as well as the rewards of doing so in a thoughtful manner. This book is meant to present the latest research and become a source of inspiration for educators, administrators, researchers, app developers, and students of education and technology.

Although there is broad agreement that preparing global citizens for the digital age is a core responsibility of educators and schools, there is debate and uncertainty about how best to prepare students for this future. Technologies for Enhancing Pedagogy, Engagement and Empowerment in Education: Creating Learning-Friendly Environments explores how technology-based learning can enhance student engagement, performance, and empowerment. This book provides researchers, educators, and practitioners with insights from educational programs, classroom teaching, and theory-into-practice research; places educational technologies appropriately in their social and cultural contexts; and reflects upon challenges and problems in evaluating and implementing changes in the field. It shows how computer-enhanced education can improve teaching and learning without confusing the increase of computer facilities with the quality of education.

Although online education is becoming an important long-term strategy for higher learning instructors, blended learning through a balanced mix of traditional face-to-face instructional activities with appropriately designed online learning experiences is expected to become an even more significant growth area in the future. ""Cases on Online and Blended Learning Technologies in Higher Education: Concepts and Practices"" provides real-life examples and experiences of those involved in developing and implementing the merge of traditional education curriculum and online instruction. A significant resource for academicians, this advanced publication provides a wide range of the most current designs, methodologies, tools, and applications in blended course teaching.

The World Wide Web is changing the way we use technology, bringing e-learning and teaching to a whole new dimension of collaboration and communication. Looking Toward the Future of Technology-Enhanced Education: Ubiquitous Learning and the Digital Native bridges the gap between technology and education by presenting innovative research on the future of education. An essential reference on e-learning, this scholarly publication examines current research in technology enhanced learning, provides new didactic models for education, and discusses the newest technologies and their impact on education.

A volume in Research Methods in Educational TechnologySeries Editor Walter F. Heinecke, University of VirginiaDespite technology's presence in virtually every public school, its documented familiarity and use byyouth outside of school, and the wealth of resources it provides for teaching social studies, there has beenrelatively little empirical research on its effectiveness for the teaching and learning of social studies. In aneffort to begin to fill this gap in research literature, this book focuses on research on technology in socialstudies education. The objectives of this volume are threefold: to describe research frameworks, provideexamples of empirical research, and chart a course for future research endeavors. Accordingly, the volumeis divided into three overarching sections: research constructs and contexts, research reports, and researchreviews.The need for research is particularly acute within the field of social studies and technology. As the primarypurpose of social studies is to prepare the young people of today to be the citizens of tomorrow, it isnecessary to examine how technology tools impact, improve, and otherwise affect teaching and learning insocial studies. Given these circumstances, we have prepared this collection of research conceptualizations, reports, and reviews to achieve three goals.1. Put forward reports on how research is being conducted in the field2. Present findings from well-designed research studies that provide evidence of how specific applications of technology are affectingteaching and learning in social studies.3. Showcase reviews of research in social studiesIt is with this framework that we edited this volume, Research on Technology and Social Studies Education, as an effort to address emerging concernsrelated to theorizing about the field and reporting research in social studies and technology. The book is divided into four sections. The first section ofthe book includes three descriptions of research constructs and contexts in social studies and technology. The second section is focused on researchreports from studies of student learning in social studies with technology. The third section containsresearch reports on teachers' pedagogical considerations for using technology in social studies. In thefourth and final section, we present work that broadly reviews and critiques research in focused areas ofsocial studies and technology. This volume contains twelve chapters, each of which focuses on socialstudies content and pedagogy and how the field is affected and enhanced with technology. The volumeincludes research and theoretical works on various topics, including digital history, digital video, geography, technology use in the K-12 social studies classroom, and artificial intelligence.

Students often enter higher education academically unprepared and with unrealistic perceptions and expectations of university life, which are critical factors that influence students' decisions to leave their institutions prior to degree completion. Advances in educational technology and the current availability of vast amounts of educational data make it possible to represent how students interact with higher education resources, as well as provide insights into students' learning behavior and processes. This volume offers new research in such learning analytics and demonstrates how they support students at institutions of higher education by offering personalized and adaptive support of their learning journey. It focuses on four major areas of discussion: * Theoretical perspectives linking learning analytics and study success. * Technological innovations for supporting student learning. * Issues and challenges for implementing learning analytics at higher education institutions. * Case studies showcasing successfully implemented learning analytics strategies at higher education institutions. Utilizing Learning Analytics to Support Study Success ably exemplifies how educational data and innovative digital technologies contribute to successful learning and teaching scenarios and provides critical insight to researchers, graduate students, teachers, and administrators in the general areas of education, educational psychology, academic and organizational development, and instructional technology.

"What we all hope for our children's education is undiminished curiosity and creativeness, and solid practical preparation for adult work. Today, there's no doubt that easy access to computers is vital for students. Bob Johnstone has brilliantly and passionately told the story of the worldwide struggle to make today's equivalent of the pencil accessible to all students."
--Victor K. McElheny, author of "Watson and DNA"

If every kid had a laptop computer, what would difference would it make to their learning? And to their prospects? Today, these are questions that all parents, teachers, school administrators, and politicians must ask themselves.

Bob Johnstone provides a definitive answer to the conundrum of computers in the classroom. His conclusion: we owe it to our kids to educate them in the medium of their time.

In this book he tells the extraordinary story of the world's first laptop school. How daring educators at an independent girls' school in Melbourne, Australia, empowered their students by making laptops mandatory. And how they solved all the obstacles to laptop learning, including teacher training.

Their example spread to thousands of other schools worldwide. Especially in America, where it inspired the largest educational technology initiative in US history--the State of Maine issuing laptops to every seventh-grader in its public school system.

This lively, intriguing, anecdote-rich account is based on hundreds of interviews. In it, you'll meet the visionary leaders, inspirational principals, heroic teachers, and their endlessly-surprising students who showed what computers in the classroom are really for.