Contextual Academic Achievement Analysis Affected by COVID-19 Pandemic of Higher Education Learners in Thailand Using Machine Learning Techniques

This research aims to present the context and impact that the Thai education system has experienced from the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. It consists of three research objectives: (1) to study the context of the impact on academic achievement from the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education, (2) to develop a model for clustering the academic achievement of students in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, and (3) to compare the academic achievement of students in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. The research data were 43,230 transactions (1961 students) from four educational programs at the Faculty of Business Administration and Information Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, the results showed that the context of the impact on the education system among tertiary learners has decreased in the number of graduates during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, students graduating during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand had higher levels of academic achievement than those in normal circumstances. The findings reflect those learners who achieved academic achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic were more persevering and tolerant than those in the traditional system. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

How do students perceive educators' digital competence in higher education?

This research aims to contribute to the field of technology in education as the main trend since Covid accelerated digitalization. There are few studies of students' perceptions of digital educators' capabilities following the approach of evidence-based learning. In a survey conducted with 243 respondents using DigComEdu as a valid instrument to measure educators' digital competence (EDC), this research presents an empirical study of the relationship between EDC from students' point of view and their self-perception of learning. The findings demonstrate that 71 % of students consider that the digital competence of their faculty impacts their learning process positively. The study carries out a literature review proposing a model of four elements affecting the student self-perception of learning: 1) educators' digital skills;2) the use of technology for communication, monitoring, and assessment;3) educators' engaging in digital ecosystems;and 4) students' data security in the learning process. The results confirm a significant relationship with three of the hypotheses, with no confirmation of the remaining one. These findings have implications for universities institutions and policymakers to assure the digitalization of education drives effectiveness and quality. © 2023 Elsevier Inc.

Convergence between technology and education for sustainable development in Latin America

The use of new technologies in education (computers and other devices) is a key factor that allows cost reduction, since physical material is no longer necessary and everything can be done through a program or app, making it easier for students and teachers to search and deliver quality information quickly and efficiently in real time. The objective of the work is to emphasize the strength of technology in higher education to favor integration, the modest but encouraging opportunities and results that have been achieved, as an ecumenical and dynamic factor in the integration process. The methodology is qualitative in approach, since a documentary analysis is developed through the collection of material, books and articles that allow us to reflect on the possibility of carrying out more in-depth studies on the convergence between education and technologies. The results reflect a technological evolution of Education 4.0 and the concepts that support higher education in the digital era, the pedagogical and academic trends that support it, and its impact on the virtualization of higher education. In the conclusions we perceive the new trends in digital education, the pandemic by covid-19 accelerated changes in study methods with the obligation of virtual study through similarities that describe the convergences and divergences between educational conceptions and technologies. © 2022 IEEE.

From Digital Divide to Digital Discovery: Re-thinking Online Learning and Interactions in Marginalized Communities

The digital divide presented between the Global South and North has been exacerbated due to the Covid-19 pandemic causing unequal access to technologies in education, public services, and healthcare. Through an exploratory study in the northeastern region of Mexico, a marginalized community used a hyperlocal network to engage in creative Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) activities. The study uses a qualitative methodology with a reflective approach, informed by sociocultural and dialogic concepts. Data collection primarily involved semi-structured interviews, observations, focus groups, and collection of artifacts. The findings present a rich framework of sociocultural factors and capital knowledge from the community. From the study emerged participants’ meanings in three categories: i) the use of offline mobile learning, ii) the educational practices in the non-formal context, and iii) the dialogic opportunities created among participants. From this non-formal context of education experience emerged creative lessons in innovation, agency from the learners, and genuine involvement from the participants. © 2022, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.

Moving MSc Software Development course online: adaptation of the large class module to a distance learning model

The Covid-19 pandemic brought dramatic changes to higher education settings, particularly for curriculum delivery, moving quickly to online learning in March 2020, which for many was the first experience of teaching and learning in the virtual environment.This paper discusses the experience of redesigning the MSc Computing Foundations module and adapting it to a distance learning model using both synchronous and asynchronous delivery at the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen's University Belfast in response to the challenges brought to higher education by the pandemic. The module is a fundamental compulsory module with an intake of 100+ students in the part-time class studying the conversional MSc course in Software Development.This paper focuses on the challenges and opportunities faced by large class students during this unprecedented move online, and changes made to the curriculum to facilitate the move to online teaching and learning using the conceptual framework for effective online courses. The paper reflects on student feedback to online educational activities including synchronous and asynchronous content delivery, discussion forums, ungraded formative quizzes, formative and summative assessments delivered online for a postgraduate cohort studying part-time. Sustained level of student engagement was evidenced through statistics collected from the virtual learning environment.This paper further discusses how the above has transformed teaching of the Computing Foundations module for the large cohort, focusing on the student experience only, and reflecting on how these online teaching practices contribute to provision of education with a view what developments became a success and could be turn to advantage and what was not effective and should be eliminated post-pandemic. Adaptation of the Computing Foundation module to the new model of online delivery has been successful in the 2020-2021 academic year, and the module has become a distance module delivered fully online in the 2021-2022 academic year. The transformation has helped to cope with a "new normal"in an increasingly hybrid higher education ecosystem as students' and educators' involvement into learning activities continued to be altered in the post-pandemic society. © 2022 IEEE.

Integration of ICTs in the training of English Students in times of Covid-19

The integration of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education has become a vital role in recent times. The purpose of this paper was to explore perceptions and challenges lecturers and student-teachers were facing on the integration of ICTs in education. A qualitative approach with a case study was employed, whose sample consisted of the five English lecturers and ten student-teachers specialising in English at The International University of Management (IUM). Data was collected with open ended questionnaires and analysed by established themes. Key findings revealed that ICTs plays central role in facilitating teaching and learning activities for English language. ICTs have turned traditional classrooms into virtual spaces that are more interactive and engaging, thereby motivating students to learn. The integration of ICTs was faced by challenges related to the high cost of technologies and the cost of internet connectivity for optimal use of the technologies. The study concluded that ICTs are essential for teaching and learning especially during the current uncertain times of Covid-19. Hence, the study recommends that stakeholders should mobilise resources to improve the provisions and usage of ICTs in educational institutions. © 2021 IEEE.

Design and Evaluation of a Game-based Language Learning Web Application for English Language Learners in Thailand

This paper proposes a game-based language learning web application, ELA-TIGA, developed for junior high school students to support their English language self-learning. This web application was designed by using a waterfall model and System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) on the Moodle platform and Database Management System (DBMS). The content and games in the ELA-TIGA app were framed by the Task-Input-Genre-Assessment teaching model for language learning. This preliminary study investigated the participating teachers' application evaluation. The participants were sixteen English language teachers from sixteen junior high schools in a north eastern province in Thailand. The teachers were trained how to use the ELA-TIGA app and later tried out the app with their students. After that, they were asked to complete a questionnaire with close-ended and open-ended questions. The findings reveal the teachers' positive feedback about the application’s content and instructional design, user interface, and game and interaction design. Besides, the teachers claimed that a variety of games are easy to use and appropriate for their students' English ability. The application can also motivate their students to learn English. They expected to fully use ELA-TIGA in the near future and believed it would be very useful for their students, especially during an online learning period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2021 29th International Conference on Computers in Education Conference, ICCE 2021 - Proceedings. All rights reserved

Prediction of Students' Perceptions towards Technology' Benefits, Use and Development

The utilization of technology in education has been increasing during the unprecedented time of the Covid-19 pandemics. It has not only affected the opinions of teachers, but also students' perceptions have been impacted. This paper identified and compared students' perceptions of Indian and Hungarian universities towards technology use, benefits, and development. A stepwise regression filtered out six significant variables that explained the perception of Indian students (R2=.91), and three variables identified the perception of Hungarian students towards technology (R2=.61). Indian students' perception has been recognized with six technology variables: 'Sharing of resources expertise and advice', 'ICT tools/techniques promoting workshops policy', 'Up to date learning materials', 'Desktop Computers equipped with internet access', 'E-library', and 'E-Reader'. Three variables such as 'Improving analytical skills', 'Download/Browse material', 'High-quality lessons' also impacted the viewpoints of Hungarian students. © 2021 IEEE.

Additive Manufacturing of Natural Materials as a Multidisciplinary Approach in Engineering Education

This research shows results from additive manufacturing as an important strategy to produce multidisciplinary skills in engineering students. Case studies are presented with materials and mechanical engineering, and arts as well. Two animals and a natural fiber from Colombia were manufactured with the fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique present at the University of Antioquia Museum and in classroom as well, aiming involve the students in a new learning and technological experience. Results reveal the potential of this technology in education and particularly in the motivation for learning and deep comprehension of details of nature only visible at the micro-scale. Moreover, the virtual models for the printing process also open new possibilities after the Covid new challenges for virtual education. © 2022, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.

Give Them Grace: An Autoethnographic Study on Instructors' Adaptation to Online Technology in Education as a Result of COVID-19

This research paper describes the study of instructors' experiences in K-12 and higher education as they adapted to new technology while education shifted to an online format as a result of COVID-19. This autoethnographic study sought to understand commonalities in five instructors' attitudes toward online education tools, external variables that affected their adaptation, and their overall perceptions of the technology and its usefulness. The research design was guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Deductive analysis of reflections, interviews, and focus group transcripts demonstrated the presence of TAM constructs in participants' experiences. Participants recognized the usefulness of various technologies and tools but did not inherently view them or the experience of teaching online in a positive way compared to teaching in-person. Participants noted the need to practice empathy with their students and themselves, the effect that external factors (such as administrative support) had on their acceptance of technologies, and the lessons learned on how their instruction has changed as a result of online instruction. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Mapping the Educational Applications of Augmented Reality Research using A Bibliometric Analysis

The use of technology in education is increasingly popular, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, where all sectors are affected, especially education. The limitations of learning interactions such as practicum in the Lab become one of the obstacles during the learning process. Educational Applications of Augmented Reality is a solution to this challenge. The purpose of this study is to reveal research trends over the last twenty years with bibliometric analysis to examine the results of articles related to the use of Educational Applications of Augmented Reality (AR). For bibliometric mapping analysis, 943 articles were accessed and for content analysis from the Scopus database from 2001 to 2020. This study visually maps scientific publications in indexed digital techniques with bibliometric analysis in various countries. This study collects data from the Scopus database, uses the Scopus website analysis feature, and visualizes the bibliometric network using Vosviewer. The method used consists of five stages: determining search keywords, initial search results, refinement of search results, initial compilation, and data analysis. Among the articles most published and indexed by Scopus, papers published by researchers in the United States (US) have the highest number of publications (107), followed by Spain (91) and Italy with 43 academic publications. Computers and Education is the most cited journal, with 845 citations. This data was taken in July 2021. The processed data shows the pattern and trend of increasing international publications in Educational Applications of Augmented Reality, namely the Scopus index. © 2021 IEEE.

How may teaching contribute to sustainability in a small scale but with wide use?

The use of technology in Education helped teaching plans reach students almost anywhere during the COVID Pandemic and some positive effects regarding the planet sustainability were also reported during this phase. A questionnaire was conducted in order to assess if students felt any resource productive in their learning and would like to keep it, contributing to lesser their ecological footprint. The more advantages to sustainability they recognize, the more educational resources they would like to keep using and the more favorable they are for a hybrid educational regime. © 2021 ACM.

Education and Innovation: Challenges for Teacher Continuing Education in Light of Post-pandemic Demands

The pandemic of COVID-19 imposed social restrictions all over the world, affecting different sectors of society. In education, it was necessary to apply remote emergency activities as a way to enable students to continue their studies. In spite of the efforts and advances achieved, it is possible to observe, in Brazil, a magnitude of challenges that demanded competences from teachers that were not contemplated in their academic training, such as mediation through the resources of Digital Information and Communication Technologies (DICTs), thus revealing a significant deficit in teacher training for today's demands. Considering the importance of integrating DICTs in education, this work, through a review of narrative literature, presents some perspectives on teacher education in Brazil and proposes a reflection on the application of technological resources in the approach of teachers in training courses. This study has implications for the design and improvement of programs and public policies for initial and continuing education. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.