Book Review: Taking Literature and Language Learning Online: New Perspectives on Teaching, Research, and Technology

The creation of beautiful literature and art is one of humanity's most essential endeavours. The importance of literature as a component of the language-teaching curriculum has fluctuated over the last century with the popularity of various language-teaching pedagogies. Notwithstanding, it has recently seen a resurrection of appreciation for its effective utility in language acquisition. Covid-19 lockdown combined with the further progress of computer-assisted language learning has led to a gradual shift in the provision of literature-based language education to an online setting. Under this trend, Sandra Stadler-Heer and Amos Paran's edited chapter book Taking Literature and Language Learning Online: New Perspectives on Teaching, Research and Technology concentrates on a particular component of this transfer process, namely the interaction between literature and language learning. This book review provides an overview of this volume.

IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE USE OF ICT TOOLS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

This article analyzes the self-concept about digital competence in university professors of Sciences, Health Sciences and Engineering and the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) use habits of professors in these areas. For this purpose, a survey designed by the authors was completed by 340 university professors in the aforementioned areas. Based on the answers obtained from this survey, a descriptive quantitative analysis of the assessments of the self-concept of digital competence and training of the participants, of the didactic use of ICT and the frequency of their use before and after the pandemic has been carried out. The results showed that the digital competence of the professors is intermediate, but their training is valued as low, especially in Sciences and Health Sciences. The assessment of ICT is very good. The pandemic has caused a generalized increase in the use of ICT, mainly in Health Sciences, which is the area in which university students were most reluctant to use them. In addition, a gender gap which did not exist before the pandemic has been generated favoring females in the use of ICT in Science and Engineering. An age-based digital gap that existed before the pandemic has also been corrected in Health Sciences © Article's contents are provided on an Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 Creative commons International License. Readers are allowed to copy, distribute and communicate article's contents, provided the author's and JOTSE journal's names are included. It must not be used for commercial purposes. To see the complete licence contents, please visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Enabling Genuine Connections in a Digital Learning Environment for Students Through Information Communication Technologies

This study introduces initial results concerning a collaborative learning mobile application to mitigate 8th-grade students' learning loss and learning variability. COVID-19's impact on the education system and its shortcomings before, during and after the pandemic was the starting point of this study. The interactive system's concept and design are derived from a collaborative reflection expressed on the school community's daily needs while teaching and learning during the unpredictable circumstances created by the pandemic. Also, by a state-of-the-art comparison of the scarce K-12 e-mentoring systems in combination with the ubiquitousness of various technological mediums, namely mobile devices like smartphones, and their fundamental role in e-mentoring programs could create successful bonds based on knowledge transmission. The OWL CLUB mobile application seeks to curate the knowledge exchange in a more humane and positive digital experience in an educational community. It also allows for creating and growing a space that encourages new genuine connections in a digital positive learning environment for students and their community. © 2023, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

Use of ICT Tools in Higher Education in Peru during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent migration to digital learning environments on the habits of use of digital teaching tools among university professors in Peru. The existence of gender gaps in this impact has also been studied. For this purpose, quantitative analysis of the answers of 116 professors from different Peruvian universities to a questionnaire designed for this purpose was carried out. As a result, it has been obtained that the pandemic has led to an increase in the use of digital tools in all areas of teaching activity studied, mainly in the evaluation and sharing of teaching materials. In addition, although female professors reported a lower use of digital tools before the pandemic, the increase in their use has been greater than in males in all teaching areas. © 2022 IEEE.

Digital learning environment: digital literacy, e-exclusion and cyber-wellness

The Covid-19 pandemic has inevitably demonstrated the importance of the digital competence of each individual, both personally and socially. Apparently, emergency remote learning has revealed the total unpreparedness of many teachers and students to interact in the online format. Hence, the development of full-scale digital competence is perceived today as a must-have for all actors in the educational process. This goal requires careful and large-scale preparation. It is necessary to understand how modern students interpret the digitalization of education, how they perceive the current level of their digital competence development, and what they see as the reasons for "digital illiteracy"demonstrated by the educational process of the "covid era". This article presents a non-experimental study that aims to evaluate the digital competence of students in higher education and to identify the main obstacles to its efficient deepening and development. Descriptive research was designed using a mixed methodology. We worked with a sample of 431 students. A Framework for Developing and Understanding Digital Competence in Europe, Questionnaire "Problems of Students' Involvement in Digital Socialization", and semi-structured interview were used for data collection. The results show a heterogeneous and rather conditional level of digital knowledge and skills influenced by the region of residence, family economics, cultural backgrounds, and conflicting motivation for the development of digital literacy, as well as the students' access to digital devices and software. The results achieved should be a cause for reflection in universities, in order to implement curricular programs that strengthen this type of skill. © 2022 ACM.

Effectiveness of Automatic Formative Assessment for learning Mathematics in Higher Education

The health emergency due to COVID-19 has highlighted the need of new and flexible digital methodologies for learning and teaching Mathematics, which can support the individual student's needs and help shape education. In this paper, we propose to use Automatic Formative Assessment (AFA) activities designed according to an innovative model, framed on the theories of formative assessment and feedback. The model includes: availability of the activities and multiple attempts;algorithmic questions;open mathematical answers;contextualized tasks;immediate and interactive feedback. We analyzed an experience using AFA in a blended module in Mathematics for 96 first-year students in Biotechnology. We collected data from the platform on grades and attempts of AFA activities and cross-checked them with the final exam grades. The results show that the feedback gained from AFA helped students improve their performance and supported them in the exam preparation. In light of these results, we can conclude that similar activities can be an effective

Smart Learning Environments: Overview of Effective Tools, Methods, and Models

Digital learning environments have undergone a zigzagging evolution over the contemporary history of intelligent learning environments. In the pre-COVID-19 phase, e-learning struggled to establish itself in traditional training systems, but since the pandemic outbreak of March 2020, distance learning has become the only possible way to use the training actions. Today’s debate following this enormous experimentation has produced tools, methods, and models that need a further rethink for the post-COVID-19 phase. A possible evolution of full online education is a hybrid version of learning environments in which online and in-person, tangible and digital, alternate in time, space/place, media technology, learning design, and content coexist. These five categories guide the structuring of intelligent environments and adapt to the needs of students, teachers, and the social context in which they are inserted. Although the design follows recursive patterns, it is extremely flexible and adaptable. Furthermore, these digital environments make it possible to convey specific self-regulated learning methods and to develop specific motivational methods aimed at self-determination. The models of hybrid learning environments differ in the purposes to be pursued or the type of users to be reached. The surveys and experiences gained in the sector of innovative teaching methodologies find their most important field of application in hybrid environments. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the future applications of the results that emerged from the experiments conducted. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Exploring students' mathematical discussions in a multi-level hybrid learning environment.

The research described in this paper focused on the issue of describing and understanding how mathematical discussion develops in a hybrid learning environment, and how students participate in it. The experimental plan involved several classes working in parallel, with pupils and teachers interacting both in their real classrooms and in a digital environment with other pupils and teachers. The research was based on a rich set of data collected from the M@t.abel 2020 project, which was developed in Italy during the Covid health crisis. Based on Complementary Accounts Methodology, the data analysis presented in this paper involved specialists from the fields of mathematics education and inclusive education. In the study we considered the complexity of learning and the different elements that have an impact on students' activity and participation, when they are engaged in mathematical discussions within the multilevel-digital environment that emerged due to the pandemic. These parallel analyses showed that 'mathematical discussion in the classroom' is a complex (and sometimes chaotic) phenomenon wherein different factors interweave. A complementary approach assists in developing a global vision for this dynamic phenomenon and in highlighting local episodes that are crucial in this interplay of factors. It is precisely in these episodes that the role of the teacher is fundamental: these episodes appear as catalysts for the different variables, with the teacher acting as mediator.

Creation and development of the digital learning environment in educational institutions

The modern digital learning environment of educational institutions should be flexible and personalized, meet the needs, requirements and wishes of teachers, students and the educational institution. Education with the use of digital tools has become relevant today in the quarantine of COVID-19. The educational process takes place regardless of time and place. It requires quick and easy access to information and educational resources. The digital learning environment of the educational institutions provides these conditions. The components of the digital learning environment of the educational institutions should provide the main functions in the process of learning and education: learning, communication, cooperation, assessment and testing, planning and management, presentation and evaluation of tasks. The approach of creating and using the digital learning environment of the educational institutions involves the use of all its elements, namely: IT services, applications, systems, etc., which can be easily combined, updated, added, deleted, changed. This approach will create and develop the digital learning environment of the educational institutions that can be adapted to innovation in education and ICT. © 2021 ACM.

Digital Learning Environment Values of Pre-Service Teachers as a Basis for Successful Professional Self-Realisation: A Case Study

The paper analyses the value mindsets of pre-service teachers in terms of the digital learning environment (DLE). DLE is considered to be both a system of new tools and methods for teaching activity and a prospective educational eco-system for learning. The DLE value model is based on a psychodidactic approach, which concerns three main constructs—digital content values, communication values, and management values. The research involved 200 pre-service teachers who were asked to complete a questionnaire, evaluating 27 DLE values and opportunities. The results show that pre-service teachers value digital learning content but are not sufficiently ready for its creation;they develop tolerance in communication yet do not have enough skills to show empathy;they appreciate independence in learning management and still need training in professional digital self-presentation. Consequently, professional training and especially internships for pre-service teachers should include a synthesis of traditional (face-to-face) and virtual communication and interaction with children to facilitate mastering an expanded set of competencies for successful professional self-realisation. The findings can be beneficial in terms of e-learning practices, DLE design, and the organisation of internships.

MATHEMATICS EDUCATION IN LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL: FOUR OPEN ONLINE COURSES TO SUPPORT TEACHING AND LEARNING

In the light of an educational emergency aggravated by the health emergency following the COVID-19 pandemic, the DELTA (Digital Education for Learning and Teaching Advances) Research Group developed four open online courses available to lower secondary school students and teachers. The four courses, devoted respectively to Numbers, Space and Shapes, Data and Predictions, Relations and Functions, contain interactive materials to support the teaching and learning of Mathematics. We have made the four open online courses available to teachers, tutors, and students within two projects. Both projects are aimed at lower secondary school students, especially those with difficulties in Mathematics. In this paper we discuss the methodologies and technologies used to develop the online courses and we show an example of the interactive materials that can be found within the courses. The results show the appreciation of the resources by teachers, tutors and students, a sign that open online educational resources can foster a change in Mathematics teaching and learning. © 2021 Virtual Simulation Innovation Workshop, SIW 2021. All rights reserved.

Can zoom replace the classroom? Perceptions on digital learning in higher education within it

The Covid‐19 pandemic has forced institutions of higher education to create digital learning environments replacing physical classrooms. The transition to digital teaching has been both abrupt and challenging for many lecturers and students. While communication and interaction between lecturer and student or among students are possible digitally, there is a difference between sitting physically next to your fellow students versus staring into a “black screen”. This paper investigates experiences of online learning among students in higher education during lockdown. We conducted an online survey (n=200) among students in Norway studying for a bachelor’s degree in information technology (IT). We emphasize students’ experience of the digital learning environment through questions on attendance and participation in live lectures, use of recorded videos, use of chat and camera and their motivation for digital learning. The findings show that students to a large or very large extent (85%) follow live lectures, at the same time they also prefer that there are video recordings of the lectures. Furthermore, we see that the students are highly or very highly (65%) motivated for digital live lectures. Concerning student engagement, such as asking questions to the lecturer and answering questions from the lecturer in the Zoom‐chat, we see that the answers vary greatly. They are distributed almost equally on the whole scale from a very small degree to a very high degree. Among our relevant contributions, we have learned that recording lectures is overwhelmingly considered positive among students and should be practiced when possible. Students rarely if ever turn on their cameras during lectures and do not expect others to show their faces. In general, among our respondents Zoom online lectures seem to work well, despite limitations to interaction and participation. © the authors, 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Student perspectives on the digital learning experience during covid-19 lockdown

As a result of lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students and lecturers in higher education worldwide had to move from campus-based teaching to digital learning environments. Almost over-night, lecturers and students had to adjust to teaching and learning through live streams like Zoom as well as video recordings of lectures. Several differences from campus teaching were immediately apparent. As an example, many lecturers experienced less interaction with their students during lectures, as most students were reluctant to speak or turn on their web cameras. This paper presents a study exploring the learning experiences and overall situation as seen from the student perspective. 15 participants were recruited among first-and second-year bachelor students enrolled in IT studies at a Norwegian university college. A qualitative approach was taken, and the students were interviewed in a semi-structured manner. This research reveals that the individual experiences differ greatly among the students, due to personal circumstances like family and living situation. However, challenges related to self-discipline, motivation and communication seem to be experienced by most of the participants. Our findings suggest that when facilitating for courses with a larger amount of the content delivered online, one should have particular focus on how to guide the students to be more independent and self-motivated, in addition to helping them develop a daily routine. For instance, the role of live lectures, as opposed to pre-recorded videos, may be a way of scaffolding the digital learning environment. Furthermore, there should be increased focus on how to support the students to meet with their peers. Measures could be social or informal gatherings, meetings in smaller groups, or group assignments demanding collaboration. © the authors, 2021. All Rights Reserved.