Research Article
Nicole L. Weber, Corine McCarthy, Katie Campbell, Hannah Bauer
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 3, Article No: ep510
ABSTRACT
As new technologies and learning practices emerge, the way instructional design and learning technology (IDLT) professionals conduct their work evolves. With this constant evolution comes a change in employer expectations of IDLT professionals. This convergent mixed methods study analyzed 130 IDLT-related position descriptions and interviewed 12 IDLT leaders from the K12, nonprofit, higher education, and corporate sectors to identify current expectations related to degree qualifications, knowledge, skills, and abilities expected from IDLT professionals. Results included a preference for a master’s degree-level qualification, at times due to bureaucracy, and an interest in the combination of academic preparation with instructional design experience. Additionally, employers shared that they were interested in an advanced understanding and adaptable application of IDLT theories, models, and frameworks, as well as a need for non-specific IDLT skills (e.g., communication and collaboration) and familiarity with IDLT-related technologies (e.g., learning management system and course authoring software). These results provide valuable insight for those looking to join IDLT field, current IDLT professionals interested in upskilling, and educational programs preparing future IDLT professionals for the workforce.
Keywords: instructional design, learning technology, K12, higher education, corporate, non-profit, KSAs, knowledge, skills, abilities
Research Article
Raúl Alberto Garcia Castro, Nikole Alexandra Mayta Cachicatari, Willian Máximo Bartesaghi Aste, Martín Pedro Llapa Medina
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 3, Article No: ep511
ABSTRACT
The introduction of ChatGPT into basic education is progressing rapidly, generating impacts that, in many cases, are unknown. Its impressive capability profiles it as a tool that will revolutionize teaching and learning processes, creating gaps that need to be understood and evaluated. The research aims to explore the advantages, disadvantages, and its impact on school tasks. It is an exploratory qualitative study; data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 110 participants from five schools in Tacna, Peru. The results reveal that ChatGPT provides information quickly and easily, with a variety of content and pedagogical strategies. Additionally, it serves for evaluation, knowledge consultation, and scheduling school tasks. Eight related disadvantages were identified: Easy access to information may encourage the habit of copying and pasting, fostering academic dependence that would affect the development of skills, such as inquiry, argumentation, analysis, and critical thinking. Also, students may misuse information, cheating on school tasks and affecting their quality and suitability, making them no longer useful for education, including synthesis, essays, monographs, organizers, summaries, and mathematical exercises.
Keywords: ChatGPT, advantages, disadvantages, school tasks, basic education
Research Article
Lu Ding, Sohee Kim, R. Allan Allday
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 3, Article No: ep512
ABSTRACT
With the exponential development and vast interest in artificial intelligence (AI), the global economic impact of AI is expected to reach $15.7 trillion by 2030. While AI has infiltrated everyday life, a lack of knowledge of what AI is and how AI works is ubiquitous across all ages and professions. Teaching AI literacy to non-technical individuals has become imperative and requires immediate attention, however, assessing AI literacy has heavily relied on subjective measurements such as qualitative assessment and self-reported surveys, which may lead to biased results. This study contributes to the field by developing and validating an assessment created based on a well-established AI literacy framework. A total of 196 responses were collected from pre-and in-service teachers in the United States, and 186 responses were included in the analysis to validate the assessment. The final assessment comprises 25 objective-based items reduced from an originally 31-item assessment. Both experts’ insights were sought, and statistical methodology was employed to ensure the validity of the assessment. The results indicate that pre-and in-service teachers have a moderate level of AI literacy and in-service teachers performed slightly better than pre-service teachers on our assessment. Inconsistent answers across various AI concepts indicate that teachers may possess an even more ambiguous understanding of certain AI concepts.
Keywords: AI literacy, assessment, non-technical, teachers, objective-based
Research Article
Yang Yang, Ze Zheng
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 3, Article No: ep513
ABSTRACT
In the existing literature, scholars have proposed various indices to measure the lexical richness (LR) of English as a foreign language (EFL) writing. However, there are currently issues of redundant indices and inconsistent usage. Attempting to address the research question of which indices are the most sensitive and effective ones to distinguish between different grade levels of Chinese university students’ EFL writing, this study aims to put forward a refined and concise model of indices that can truthfully reflect LR in EFL writing. A total of 180 compositions were selected from a Chinese EFL learner corpus: Spoken and written English corpus of Chinese learners. Scores of 28 LR indices of these compositions were computed using the software Lexical Complexity Analyzer, MATTR, and Coh-Metrix. One-way ANOVA or Welch’s ANOVA, depending on the variable’s homogeneity of variances, was conducted for each index. Two criteria were applied to determine which index of a measure should be included in the refined model: whether the difference of an index is significant among different grade levels and the effect size of ANOVA. Based on the quantitative results of ANOVAs and qualitative human judgment based on literature, six indices of the six LR measures were included in the refined model: lexical density, lexical sophistication-I, verb sophistication-II, number of different words-expected sequence 50, corrected TTR, and squared verb variation-I. This refined model addresses the issues of redundancy and inconsistency in previous studies, providing a more accurate and efficient tool for assessing LR in EFL writing.
Keywords: refined model, lexical richness, index, EFL writing, training and testing
Review Article
Olga V. Sergeeva, Ekaterina V. Zvereva, Yuliya P. Kosheleva, Marina R. Zheltukhina, Alexey I. Prokopyev, Denis A. Dobrokhotov
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 3, Article No: ep514
ABSTRACT
This article has crafted a detailed bibliometric review of gamified learning in higher education which provides the reader a broad scientific background and an overview of relevant publications and their up-to-date status in this growing domain. The study examines the spread of publications over the time, revealing a development of a dynamic curve from minor to peak in 2021, and then leveled-off of activity in the rest of the years. There is special focus on high-achieving authors and institutions that are praised by the work for their key contributions to the field of gamified learning research. The aspect of global geographical distribution of gamified learning studies in the literature is expounded. While the USA and Turkey rank first in this regard, they also head the discourse. The role of key journals and a citation analysis provide the evidence of the highly reputable and established place the gamified leaning has in higher education. This bibliometric review offers important information about the multifaceted aspects of gamified learning and subsequently may be used by future researchers to dig deeper and contribute to the literature.
Keywords: gamified learning, higher education, bibliometric review
Research Article
Arystanbek Maulet, Wilfried Admiraal, Nursulu Algozhaeva, Nuri Balta
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 3, Article No: ep515
ABSTRACT
Teachers’ knowledge about technology and teaching with technology is decisive for how affordances of technology integration are taken up. Two questionnaires were administered in 21 high schools in Kazakhstan: one about types of teacher knowledge based on technological pedagogical content knowledge framework and one about affordances of technology integration. The analyses show a relatively high level of all types of teacher knowledge and a large variation in perceived affordances, with relatively low scores for support from the school leader and time available to design and plan technology integration in class. Furthermore, different types of knowledge were related to different affordances, which means that a focus on a high level of all types of teacher’s knowledge of technology might help best to benefit from most of the affordances. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Keywords: teaching with technology, affordances, knowledge, teachers, secondary education
Research Article
Adeeb M. Jarrah, Kamar Fayez, Hanan Almarashdi, Patricia Fidalgo
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 3, Article No: ep516
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an unprecedented reliance on digital technologies in education, regardless of the pre-existing attitude of teachers. This study explores elementary school teachers’ perceptions about teaching mathematics through distance education. Using a quantitative approach, an online questionnaire was administered to primary teachers in the UAE during the spring semester of 2020-2021. The results show teachers’ readiness to adopt digital technology in teaching against increased workload. Difficulties emerged in optimizing student performance in online environments. While the institution supports digital integration, teachers prefer traditional in-person classroom instruction. Therefore, the research would inform some educational systems and curriculum planning worldwide on the best way to integrate digital technology within elementary mathematics education. The study aims to close the gap in mathematics education within a digital context to solve the emerging educational demands.
Keywords: distance education, elementary education, information and communication technology, mathematics education, United Arab Emirates