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Editorial for EAIT issue 4, 2021

Arthur tatnall.

Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

Education and Information Technologies (EAIT) is a research journal that covers the complex relationships between Information and Communication Technologies and Education. EAIT is the official journal of the Technical Committee on Education (TC3) of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP).

Articles submitted to the journal relate to all levels: the micro level of specific applications or instances of use in classrooms to macro concerns of national policies and major projects; from classes of pre-schoolers to adults in tertiary institutions; from teachers and administrators; to researchers and designers; from institutions to open, distance and lifelong learning. The journal’s breadth of coverage allows EAIT to examine fundamental issues at all levels, discuss specific instances and cases, draw inference and probe theory. The journal is embedded in the research and practice of professionals and has been accepted into the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) in the category ‘Education & Educational Research’.

The first article in this issue: Application of virtual reality for infrastructure management education in civil engineering describes research by Farrukh Arif (NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan). The author points out that cultivation of student understanding in civil engineering requires them to conceive things in a manner that allows for a comprehensive grasp of practical aspects in alignment with theoretical principles. Virtual Reality (VR) is technology intervention that provides real-world like sensations to its users within a simulated setting, enabling them to safely entertain, learn, experiment, and feel. This paper presents a study on the application and assessment of using virtual reality for infrastructure management education in civil engineering.

Azza Alawadhi (Higher Colleges of Technology, Ras Al Khaimah Womens College, United Arab Emirates) and Emad A. S. Abu-Ayyash (The British University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates) next offer: Students’ perceptions of Kahoot!: An exploratory mixed-method study in EFL undergraduate classrooms in the UAE . Game-based student response systems (GSRS) such as Socrative, Quizlet, and Kahoot! have become a popular tool to increase motivation, enhance classroom engagement, and facilitate collaborative learning, but little research has attempted to understand student perceptions using these platforms for language learning across higher education in the Middle East. The purpose of this exploratory mixed methods research was to examine undergraduate student perceptions of Kahoot!, a game-based interactive platform in an English language course at a federal higher education institution in the UAE.

Effects of technology-enhanced constructivist learning on science achievement of students with different cognitive styles comes from: Esra Açıkgül Fırat (Adiyaman University, Turkey), Mustafa Serdar Köksal (Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey) and Alaattin Bahşi (Ministry of National Education, Bingöl, Turkey). The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of technology-enhanced constructivist learning on science achievement of seventh-grade students with different cognitive styles. Cognitive styles of the students are examined within the frame of Witkin et al. (1977) in terms of field dependent and field independent cognitive styles.

K. R. Pillai and Pallavi Upadhyaya (Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India), Ashish Viswanath Prakash (Indian Institute of Technology, West Bengal, India), Badrinarayan Srirangam Ramaprasad (Justice K. S. Hedge Institute of Management, NITTE, Mangalore, India), H. V. Mukesh and Yogesh Pai (Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India) then write on: End-user satisfaction of technology-enabled assessment in higher education: A coping theory perspective . Their study examines students’ coping process of a forced technological intervention in academic outcome assessment in a higher education setting. This is an empirical study grounded in the Coping Model of User Adaptation (CMUA). They found that problem-focused coping has a significant influence on end-user satisfaction, but that emotion-focused coping is insignificant among the students.

Web 2.0 Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) have been proposed as a new method to promote the use of Web 2.0 tools for learner-centred personal learning say Jieun Lim (Daegu National University of Education, Republic of Korea) and Timothy J. Newby (Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA) in their paper: Preservice teachers’ attitudes toward Web 2.0 personal learning environments (PLEs): Considering the impact of self-regulation and digital literacy . This study investigates the effects of self-regulating capabilities (such as metacognition and time management), tool literacy, and information literacy on preservice teachers’ attitudes toward using Web 2.0 for constructing their PLEs.

Gonçalo Tomás and Miguel Mira da Silva (Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal) and José Bidarra (Universidade Aberta, Lisbon, Portugal) then offer: Supervision of master theses based on Scrum: A case study . They point out that the success rate of a master program on Information Systems and Computer Engineering in a Portuguese university was very unsatisfactory, showing that less than half of the students complete the assigned work in their first term. However, the success rate of a group of students that were supervised based on the Scrum framework was much higher. In this study the authors assess the current situation and identify the benefits of using Scrum to manage master’s theses.

The effect of flipped learning on EFL students’ writing performance, autonomy, and motivation by Alaá Ismael Challob (University Of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq) notes that though flipped learning has positively impacted teaching English writing, its usefulness in developing students’ English writing performance, autonomy, and motivation is still unclear. The reported study addressed the factors available in the flipped learning English writing environment that contribute to this effect, finding that this learning environment has an impact on promoting students’ English writing performance, autonomy, and motivation.

The next study: Integration of information and communication technology in teaching: Initial perspectives of senior high school teachers in Ghana examined the Integration of ICT in teaching, focusing on the Kumasi Girls Senior High School in Ghana. It was offered by Valentina Arkorful and Kwaku Anhwere Barfi (University of Cape Coast, Ghana) and Isaac Kwame Aboagye (Kumasi Girls Senior High School, Ghana). The objectives were to examine the extent to which the attitude of teachers influences the integration of ICT in teaching, and to examine the gender differences in the integration of ICT in Senior High Schools.

Issues in learning management systems implementation: A comparison of research perspectives between Australia and China by Darren Turnbull, Ritesh Chugh and Jo Luck (Central Queensland University, North Rockhampton, Australia) points out that Australian post-secondary institutions have embraced the incorporation of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) into traditional classroom-based instruction and distance learning models. Given that an increasing number of Chinese students are studying in Australia and that their experience of using LMSs in China may be very different from that in Australia, it is important to explore the issues in LMS implementation in the two countries. This literature review compares the use of LMSs in China and Australia with the aim of identifying some of the issues impacting their integration into the course offerings of post-secondary institutions in both countries.

Samantha Leonard, Michael J. Stroud and Raymond J. Shaw (Merrimack College, North Andover, USA) next present: Highlighting and taking notes are equally ineffective when Reading paper or eText . The reported study examined whether there is a difference in comprehension when reading from computer-based text versus reading from paper-based text and whether there is any benefit from the ability to take notes and highlight text while reading. The results revealed no significant difference in reading times and comprehension scores across conditions and no significant difference in highlighting and note-taking across text formats.

Implications of the Delphi method in the evaluation of sustainability open education resource repositories by Xiaochen Wang, Tingting Chen and Yihan Zhang (Capital Normal University, Beijing, China) and Harrison Hao Yang (State University of New York at Oswego, USA) aimed to break through the original ‘fixed’, highly structured evaluation system and develop an open and flexible “1 + X” evaluation framework of open educational resources (OER) by using the modified Delphi method. The framework of this study provides a basis for the evaluation and optimisation of existing OER repositories and also serves as functional scaffolding for the construction of new repositories.

University students have to master new twenty-first century competences to be able to completely form part of Knowledge Society, and Gonzalo Almerich, Jesús Suárez-Rodríguez, Isabel Díaz-García and Natividad Orellana (University of Valencia, Spain) discuss this in: The influence of using ICT in high-skills competences and ICT competences. A structural model . These include high-skill competences – higher-order thinking capacities and teamwork competences, and ICT competences – technological, pedagogical and ethical, as well as using technological resources. Their study aimed to determine the influence of ICT use – personal use, academic use at home and academic use in the classroom, on the relational asymmetric structure of ICT competences on high-skill competences.

Mustafa Can Demirkiran (Hatay Bahçeşehir College Antakya, Turkey) and Fatma Tansu Hocanin (Cyprus International University Mersin, Nicosia, Cyprus) next write on: An investigation on primary school students’ dispositions towards programming with game-based learning . Today, new technological teaching aids are used to support learning and to increase motivation and adaptation of students. Game-based Learning (GBL) is one such aid. In computer science courses, the concept of programming can be confusing and difficult to understand by some students and this study investigated the disposition of 5 th grade primary school students on programming through a digital game-play.

An assessment of the interplay between literacy and digital Technology in Higher Education relates a study by Shahrokh Nikou (Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland and Stockholm University, Sweden) and Milla Aavakare (Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland). Digital technologies fundamentally transform teaching and learning in higher education environments, with the pace of technological change exacerbating the challenge, and this research developed a conceptual model and employed Structural Equation Modelling using Partial Least Squares to examine the impact of information and digital literacy on Finnish university staff and students’ intention to use digital technologies.

Sofia Moya and Mar Camacho (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Carretera de Valls, Spain) then present: Identifying the key success factors for the adoption of mobile learning . They argue that there is evidence that sustainability and efficiency are challenges for mobile learning adoption methods and the objective of their study was to identify, categorize and evaluate the critical factors that shape the adoption and sustainable use of mobile learning. The study investigated the factors that affect mobile learning adoption, how they can be categorised and the prioritization of these categories in Catalonia. Overall, participants prioritised these from the most challenging to the lowest impact as: leadership; personal character, attitudes, and ethics; digital literacy; pedagogical; and technological resources.

The literature addresses the needs in acclimatising dynamic, student-driven instruction to conceive a significantly enhanced online learning environment, say Asma Almusharraf (Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) and Norah Almusharraf (Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) in their article: Socio-interactive practices and personality within an EFL online learning environments . This study examines the relationship between student characteristics – introversion and extraversion, and contribution in the online writing environment – social presence, and their sense of class community in online writing courses.

Exploring the effectiveness of a mobile writing application for supporting handwriting acquisition of students with dysgraphia is a paper by Sinan Hopcan (Istanbul University—Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey) and S. Tugba Tokel (Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey). Handwriting is one of the most important essential skills for both literacy and beyond, but some students have difficulty in writing. Dysgraphia, a disorder of written expression, is a condition where a student’s writing skills are below the level expected of their intelligence, age, and education. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a mobile writing application for students with dysgraphia and to determine whether students’ writing skills improve after using this application.

Exploring the determinants of students’ academic performance at university level: The mediating role of internet usage continuance intention by Mahmoud Maqableh, Mais Jaradat and Ala’a Azzam (The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan) follows. Their study investigates the impact of integrating essential factors on academic performance in the context of university students, and the influence of continuance intention, satisfaction, information value, and Internet addiction on academic performance. It also investigates the mediating role of continuance intention on the relationship of satisfaction and information value on academic performance among university students.

Kiran Fahd (Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia), Shah J. Miah (University of Newcastle, Australia), Khandakar Ahmed (Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia), Sitalakshmi Venkatraman (Melbourne Polytechnic, Australia) and Yuan Miao (Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia) next present: Integrating design science research and design based research frameworks for developing education support systems . Their paper proposes an integrated research framework that takes advantage of the similarities of design science research (DSR) and design-based research (DBR) for developing a new decision support system (DSS) artefact.

Ariya Pakinee and Kitti Puritat (Chiang Mai University, Thailand) then wrote on: Designing a gamified e-learning environment for teaching undergraduate ERP course based on big five personality traits . They note that the COVID-19 pandemic forced universities to push the use of distance learning, impacting many students. This study presents an applied gamification concept to e-learning focusing on improving engagement of the various types of personalities of undergraduate students in ERP courses. The gamification design was developed by implementing the pros and cons of each game element to compromise the overall performance of students.

Factors affecting ICT integration in TURKISH education: a systematic review comes from Yigit Emrah Turgut (Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey) and Alper Aslan (Cemisgezek Vocational High School, Munzur University, Tunceli, Turkey). The meta-synthesis method is used to make in-depth analysis and to interpret qualitative research findings. Through inclusion and exclusion criteria, 60 studies among 907 candidate studies accessed from databases including the Web of Science, Education Resource Information Center (ERIC) and the Turkish Academic Network and Information Center are included in this research.

The expansion of access to devices, as well as the production and publication options in social networks requires a broader definition of the traditional notion of personal digital storytelling write José Luis Rodríguez-Illera (Universitat de Barcelona, Spain), Elena Barberà Gregori (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain) and Núria Molas-Castells (Universitat de Barcelona, Spain) in: Reasons and mediators in the development and communication of personal digital stories . To get a deeper understanding of these practices in groups of adolescents, the objective of this article was to analyse the reasons that direct publications of personal stories and what kind of filters, agents and consequences are articulated in these stories.

Action protocol for the use of robotics in students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A systematic review was contributed by: G. Lorenzo, A. Lledó, Pérez-Vázquez and A. Lorenzo-Lledó (University of Alicante, Carretera de San Vicent del Raspeig, Spain). Use of ICT has opened new paths in the intervention of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including intervention based on “social robots”. This research reviews the state of production of social robotics in the intervention of students with ASD during 2000–2019 to establish an action protocol in the use of this tool through a list of bibliometric indicators.

The effect of technology-supported collaborative problem solving method on students’ achievement and engagement is an article by: Erhan Unal (Vocational School of Distance Education, Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey) and HasanCakir (Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey). A collaborative problem-solving method was used in the experimental groups of Object-Oriented Programming I-II courses participants, one of them being supported with web 2.0 technologies whereas the other was supported with desktop software and face to face communication. The results indicated that a significant difference exists between the experimental groups while the students’ levels of collaborative learning engagement in the experimental groups were significantly higher than the students’ in the comparison group.

Rishabh Singh and Devansh Timbadia (NMIMS University, Mumbai, India and Cerebranium, Sepapaja, Tallinn, Estonia), Vidhi Kapoor (Cerebranium, Sepapaja, Tallinn, Estonia and NMIMS University, Mumbai, India), Rishabh Reddy and Prathamesh Churi (NMIMS University, Mumbai, India and Cerebranium, Sepapaja, Tallinn, Estonia) then write on: Question paper generation through progressive model and difficulty calculation on the Promexa Mobile Application . Institutions need to use online learning as a powerful tool for conducting exams and assess the students effectively, so it is important to understand each student’s capacities and create a different test based on the required difficulty. Students should be graded based on their capabilities. The purpose of this research study was to develop the progressive model with the calibration of difficulty level according to the student capacity.

The purpose of the next reported research: High school students’ acceptance and use of mobile technology in learning mathematics was to investigate factors affecting the acceptance and use of mobile technology in learning mathematics based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model. It was contributed by Kübra Açıkgül and Süleyman Nihat Şad (İnonu University, Malatya, Turkey). Their results revealed both direct and indirect effects of exogenous variables on Behavioural Intention and Use Behaviour in mobile technology acceptance of high school students in learning mathematics.

Fade Shi (Xi’an Polytechnic University, China) next presents: Using technology-based tools in ensuring quality of publishable journal articles: the case of Chinese undergraduate research writing experience . The researcher notes that undergraduate student engagement in research publication facilitates their intellectual development and professional social interaction and leads to an increased sense of self efficacy and trust in science and recognition as a researcher. Scientific publication is a pillar which gauges intellectual human capital of countries in the global innovation index. This paper presents the effectiveness of using technology-based tools in ensuring the quality of articles for journal publication.

Determinants predicting undergraduates’ intention to adopt e-learning for studying English in Chinese higher education context: A structural equation modelling approach . This work by Chunming Li and Limin He (Zhaoqing University, Guangdong, China) and IpKin Anthony Wong (Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangdong, China) showed that in addition to perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, the intrinsic motivation factor of perceived enjoyment and extrinsic motivation factor of social influence can also determine students’ intention to apply e-learning for studying English.

The voice, text, and the visual as semiotic companions: an analysis of the materiality and meaning potential of multimodal screen feedback . The gap between how learners interpret and act upon feedback has been widely documented in the research literature. What is less certain is the extent to which the modality and materiality of the feedback influence students’ and teachers’ perceptions. This article, by Clare Tyrer (Lancaster University, UK) explores the semiotic potential of multimodal screen feedback to enhance written feedback.

Ricardo-Adán Salas-Rueda (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) next writes on: Use of flipped classroom in the marketing career during the educational process on financial mathematics with the aim of analysing the use of a flipped classroom in considering data science, machine learning (linear regression) and neural network. The results of machine learning indicated that the consultation of English and Spanish videos before the class, the realization of the exercises collaboratively through spreadsheet and dissemination of the answers about the exercises through Google Drive during the class and realisation of the online exams and laboratory practices after the class positively influence the development of mathematical skills about simple interest.

Christos Troussas, Akrivi Krouska and Cleo Sgouropoulou (University of West Attica, Athens, Greece) next discuss their research on: Impact of social networking for advancing learners’ knowledge in E-learning environments . They point out that social networking has modernized digital education through the provision of novel functionalities, such as reacting, commenting, motivation or group formation. In the light of the new developments, this paper presents SNAKE (Social Networking for Advancing Knowledge in E-learning environment), which is an e-learning software incorporating social characteristics for the tutoring of computer programming.

This study: An evaluation of accessibility to preschool education institutions using geographic information systems , aimed to evaluate current locations of preschool education institutions and suggest alternative spatial arrangements in the Afyonkarahisar province in Turkey, using heuristic location-allocation modelling approaches to improve overall spatial accessibility. It describes research by: Mustafa Köse and Mehmet Koçyiğit and Cahit Erdem (Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey) and Idris Mohammed Jega (National Space Research and Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria). The results of the study showed that provision of alternative preschool locations decreased the average travel distance from each residential home to each preschool by over 600 m, thereby improving overall accessibility to preschools.

Using a video annotation tool to enhance student-teachers’ reflective practices and communication competence in consultation practices through a collaborative learning community comes from Mabel Mei-Po Shek and Kim-Chau Leung (The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong SAR) and Peter Yee-Lap To (Lingnan University, Hong Kong SAR). They investigated how peer comments made using a video annotation tool (VAT) through an online learning community improved student-teachers’ level of reflective thinking and communication competence throughout the simulated, role-play, context of consultation practice. They found that the VAT could enhance student-teachers’ learning by reducing communication barriers created by the tendency to avoid direct observations of peers’ weaknesses, enhancing reflection-in-action during practice, and contextualizing written comments by referring to specific video segments. However, student-teachers felt that the VAT should also allow users to draw on the video screens.

Informed by the educational conditions shaped by the coronavirus pandemic and an increased reliance upon online learning solutions and technologies, this article examines the role of personality traits and online academic self-efficacy in acceptance, actual use and achievement in Moodle on a socially distanced asynchronous university course in Japan. The role of personality traits and online academic self-efficacy in acceptance, actual use and achievement in Moodle comes from Damian J. Rivers (Future University Hakodate, Japan). The study found that agreeableness and conscientiousness have positive direct effects on online academic self-efficacy in addition to positive indirect effects on the acceptance of Moodle, and this had an indirect effect on course achievement while none of the five-factor model personality traits had an influence on actual Moodle use.

Hanaa Ouda Khadri Ahmed (Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt) next argues that drone technology has great potential for enhancing and improving teaching and learning experiences in GeoSTEM Education which involves the integration between Geosciences and STEM domains in an article titled: Towards application of drone- based GeoSTEM education: Teacher Educators readiness (attitudes, competencies, and obstacles) . It is argued that building and flying drones can enhance interdisciplinary approach to GeoSTEM Education as this helps students to use concepts and principles of Robotics, Maths, Radio Communication Systems, Computer Programming, Electronics, Chemistry, Physics, Photography, Flight Dynamics, Media, project monitoring and hands-on experiences.

The next paper, by Norliza Kushairi and Aidi Ahmi (Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, Malaysia) examines the current dynamics of flipped classroom studies and proposes a direction for future research for the field. The paper is titled: Flipped classroom in the second decade of the Millenia: a Bibliometrics analysis with Lotka’s law . Using a bibliometric approach they observed a sample of 1557 documents from the Scopus database to identify research activity on the flipped classroom. This paper also predicts the future study in the flipped classroom using Lotka’s law. They found that the pattern distribution of the author’s contribution fits with the law and conclude by suggesting a few potential research directions on the flipped classroom.

Effectiveness of game development-based learning for acquiring programming skills in lower secondary education in Croatia it was contributed by Martina Holenko Dlab and Natasa Hoic-Bozic (University of Rijeka, Croatia). A European initiative CODING4GIRLS (C4G) promotes the acquisition of programming skills through a game development process with the aim of preparing young learners, especially girls, to enter computer science careers and raising awareness of the relationship between ICT and the real world. Using the C4G game development-based learning methodology, students develop serious games for which they need to learn specific programming concepts. This paper presents the results of a study with a mixed gender group of both boys and girls carried out with the aim of examining the effectiveness of the C4G development-based learning approach in lower secondary education in Croatia.

Learning style theories have been widely used in adaptive learning systems to enhance learning outcomes says Zhanni Luo (University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand) in: Using eye-tracking technology to identify learning styles: Behaviour patterns and identification accuracy . This author proposed to test the feasibility of eye-tracking technology in identifying learning styles with everyday materials as well as identification accuracy and selected the FelderSilverman’s learning style model (FSLSM) as a framework, enlisted behaviour patterns that can be used to identify the eight learning styles in the FSLSM model. A quasi-experiment was conducted to test whether these behaviour patterns apply to eye movement differences.

Yu-Ju Lin (Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA) and Hung-chun Wang (National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan) then write on: Using virtual reality to facilitate learners’ creative self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation in an EFL classroom . A class of university students in Taiwan participated in a virtual reality (VR) supported creative project with the instructor’s guidance step by step. A creative self-efficacy student scale, an intrinsic motivation inventory and an open-ended survey were given to the students to explore how the project might have influenced their efficacy for creativity and learning of English.

Qi Zhang and Zhonggen Yu (Beijing Language and Culture University, China) then present: A literature review on the influence of Kahoot! On learning outcomes, interaction, and collaboration . They point out that, initially developed in 2012, Kahoot! is a game-based student response system aiming to transform the class into a game show, but that some people have doubts about its effectiveness as an educational game. Based on past studies, this study explored the influence of Kahoot! on learning outcomes and collaboration including curricular interaction and extracurricular collaboration.

Current trends in the digital transformation of higher education institutions in Russia describes research by Alexey Mikheev (MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia), Yana Serkina (Belgorod State National Research University, Russia) and Alexander Vasyaev (Moscow State Law University named after O.E. Kutafin (MGLA), Moscow, Russia). In an attempt to bring together views and experiences of different actors of the educational sector, three individual online surveys were conducted among administrative staff, teachers, and students of several educational institutions. Detailed analysis of survey outcomes indicated positive and negative trends in digitalization of educational processes from the perspective of university administrative staff, teachers, and students.

Analysing peer feedback in asynchronous online discussions: A case study by Soon Yen Foo (Malaysian Institute of Teacher Education, Johor, Malaysia) begins by defining Peer Feedback as comments provided by one student to another with the intention to aid their peers’ progress in learning. Responses or feedback provided by peers has been recognised as an integral part of the learning process in online learning environments. A case study, conducted among Economics students from an all-girls high school located at the northern part of Malaysia, found that the most common type of feedback provided by students was categorised at a cognitive dimension, with the affective and the metacognitive dimensions following behind.

Nagihan Tanik Önal and Nezih Önal (Nigde Omer Halisdemir University, Turkey) follow with an article on: The effect of augmented reality on the astronomy achievement and interest level of gifted students . This study was conducted in line with an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design and comprised 51 gifted students (26 in the control group and 25 in the experimental group) attending a Science and Arts Centre. In the application process, astronomy teaching activities supported with augmented reality (AR) were used in an experimental group while astronomy teaching activities suggested in the official science curriculum of the middle school 7 th grade were used. The data of the study were collected by using an Astronomy Achievement Test and the Scale of Interest in Astronomy as a pre-test and post-test and an AR Interview form administered only to the experimental group students at the end of the application.

The transition through the first year of university study is challenging for many students, and for students from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, commencing studies in an English-Medium Instruction (EMI) university program presents specific challenges say Sameera Tahira Ahmed (United Arab Emirates University, Abu Dhabi, UAE) and Thomas Roche (Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia) in their paper: Making the connection: Examining the relationship between undergraduate students’ digital literacy and academic success in an English medium instruction (EMI) university . This paper focuses on the digital literacy practices of undergraduates at a national public university in a Gulf State.

Open educational practices of SWAYAM programme among research scholars comes from K.Sathish Kumar and M. Mahendraprabu (Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India). This study aimed at describing the open educational resources of the state universities of Tamilnadu research scholars on their SWAYAM programme. It also attempts to determine the research scholars’ level of open educational practices on their SWAYAM through appropriate methodological and statistical procedures.

The challenges of instructors’ and students’ attitudes in digital transformation: A case study of Saudi Universities from Abdulaziz Alhubaishy (Saudi Electronic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) and Abdulmajeed Aljuhani (Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia) notes that Digital Transformation (DT) has become the core motivator for almost all organizations worldwide. To cope with the new demands, Higher Education Institutions are also giving due consideration to digitizing their services, including pedagogical services. This paper extracts, synthesizes, categorizes, and prioritizes the challenges hindering the success of DT in Saudi universities.

Measuring in-service teacher self-efficacy for teaching computational thinking: development and validation of the T-STEM CT . The authors, Danielle Cadieux Boulden, Arif Rachmatullah, Kevin M. Oliver and Eric Wiebe (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA) say that despite a growing recognition that K-12 teachers should be prepared to teach students computational thinking (CT) skills across disciplines, there is a lack of valid instrumentation that measures teachers’ efficacy beliefs to do so. Their study addressed this problem by developing and validating an instrument that measures in-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching CT.

Julio Cabero-Almenara (University of Seville, Spain), Francisco D. Guillén-Gámez (University of Cordoba, Spain), Julio Ruiz-Palmero (University of Malaga, Spain) and Antonio Palacios-Rodríguez (University of Seville, Spain) then present: Digital competence of higher education professor according to DigCompEdu. Statistical research methods with ANOVA between fields of knowledge in different age ranges . They say that the tasks of university educators must be linked to the digital demands posed by the more sophisticated professions of the twenty-first century. The objective of their study was to examine and compare the degree of digital competence of Higher Education educators from different fields of knowledge and different age ranges according to the DigCompEdu framework.

Among teacher beliefs, technology acceptance has a crucial role in effective technology integration into teaching, and Melih Derya Gurer (Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey) writes on this in: Examining technology acceptance of pre-service mathematics teachers in Turkey: A structural equation modelling approach . The purpose of this study was to investigate Turkey’s pre-service mathematics teachers’ intentions to use technology in their future teaching. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used as a framework and was expanded with different variables, including facilitating conditions, subjective norms, and technology self-efficacy.

Nexus among cyberloafing behaviour, job demands and job resources: A mediated-moderated model by Hamzah Elrehail (Skyline University College, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates), Shafque Ur Rehman (ILMA University, Karachi, Pakistan), Naveed Iqbal Chaudhry (University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan) and Amro Alzghoul (Amman Arab University, Jordan) examines this through the mediating role of job stress and work engagement and the contingent role of employee motivation at universities. Their research model draws on border theory and the JD-R model.

Ahmet Berk Ustun, Fatma Gizem Karaoglan Yilmaz and Ramazan Yilmaz (Bartın University, Turkey) then offer: Investigating the role of accepting learning management system on students’ engagement and sense of community in blended learning . This study was conducted in an introductory computer course with students who participated in a Moodle learning community that was constituted for the blended learning course. Three self-report instruments were employed to gather data from these students studying, finding that their LMS acceptance significantly and positively affected their sense of community and engagement in BL.

The next study: Effects of self-explanation on applying decision rules in an online learning environment by Yahya İltüzer and Yasemin Demiraslan Çevik (Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey) aimed to investigate this with worked examples on university students’ skills in applying decision rules, on the retention of these skills, and on the cognitive load in an online learning environment. Two online learning environments to teach decision rules were designed based on worked example method and participants were assigned to an experimental group with self-explanation strategy and a control group without. The results showed that the online learning process based on the worked examples with self-explanation caused a significant change in the learners’ skills of applying decision rules.

Factors influencing instructors’ intentions to use information technologies in higher education amid the pandemic is by Ferhan Şahin and Ezgi Doğan (Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey), Ulaş İlic (Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey) and Yusuf Levent Şahin (Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey). The purpose of this study was to determine the variables that affect the instructors’ intentions to use IT by extending TAM and to examine the roles of individual differences (moderators) in the proposed model. The results showed that self-efficacy, perceived enjoyment, compatibility and facilitating conditions affect the intention to use IT. The most influential construct among these was compatibility.

Andrew Chimpololo (University of Malawi) then offers: Disciplinary variations in the diffusion of heutagogical use of mobile technologies among student-teachers . Whilst teacher education in Malawi seems to be afflicted by numerous challenges emanating from financial inadequacy and human resource constraints, widespread ownership of mobile technologies among student-teachers and versatility of these devices offers prospects for an improved academic environment. This study examines disciplinary variations in the diffusion of heutagogical use of mobile technologies among student-teachers at Domasi College of Education in Malawi.

Computer programming education is often delivered using individual learning strategies leaving group learning techniques as an under-researched pedagogy says Manuel B. Garcia (FEU Institute of Technology, Manila, Philippines) in the following article: Cooperative learning in computer programming: A quasi-experimental evaluation of Jigsaw teaching strategy with novice programmers . This pose a research gap since novice programmers tend to form their own group discussions after lecture meetings and laboratory activities, and often rely on peers when a topic or activity is difficult, and so this study evaluates the impact of cooperative learning using jigsaw technique when teaching computer programming to novice programmers.

Developing gamification e-quizzes based on an Android app: the impact of asynchronous form is by Marwa F. Areed, Mohamed A. Amasha and Rania A. Abougalala (Damietta University, Egypt), Salem Alkhalaf (Qassim University, Alrass, Saudi Arabia) and Dalia Khairy (Damietta University, Egypt). Gamification is very important during the pandemic because it helps students to represent their study contents and enrich their experiences of higher education when learning in-person is unavailable during the pandemic. This study presents an Android-based gamification app to evaluate the effect of using gamification and e-quizzes on college students’ learning.

The aim of the next reported study was to increase knowledge of teachers’ understanding and experiences of using, or not using, digital tools in Early Childhood Education (ECE). Digitalisation in early childhood education: a domestication theoretical perspective on teachers’ experiences is by Sofe Lindeman (Bergsvägen’s Preschool, Stenungsund, Sweden), Maria Svensson (Varekil’s Preschool, Henån, Sweden) and Ann-Britt Enochsson (Karlstad University, Sweden). The study takes a domestication theoretical approach based on interviews with twelve teachers from nine ECE institutions working with play-based learning with children aged 1–5 years from four different municipalities in Sweden and answers the following research questions: In what ways, and to what extent, do teachers integrate digital tools in their work? What practical, symbolic or cognitive aspects affect their work with digital tools?

Wei Ching Lee (Republic Polytechnic, Singapore), Wei Leng Neo (Singapore Management University, Singapore), Der-Thanq Chen (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) and Tzu-Bin Lin (National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan) next write on: Fostering changes in teacher attitudes toward the use of computer simulations: Flexibility, pedagogy, usability and needs . They indicate that while benefits of using computer simulations in teaching and learning are well documented, actual classroom usage remains sporadic. In this study, the researchers interviewed secondary school science teachers in Singapore, to qualitatively unpack the nuances of the affective, behavioural and cognitive dimensions of teacher attitudes towards computer simulation.

Toward a model of learning innovation integration: TPACK-SAMR based analysis of the introduction of a digital learning environment in three Russian universities by Elena Drugova and Irina Zhuravleva (Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia), Marina Aiusheeva (Banzarov Buryat State University, Ulan-Ude, Russia) and Daria Grits (Skyeng LLC, Moscow, Russia) points out that digitalisation is penetrating higher education in Russia. Their study explores how three Russian universities have been integrating the Skyes digital learning platform to transform educational practices in English as a foreign language (EFL). The article outlines the main characteristics of the platform, recounts the steps in adopting the technology and addresses the emerging changes to learning and teaching.

Leila Fekri Pileh Roud (University of Tehran, Iran) and Sahbi Hidri (University of Tunis, Tunisia) then write on: Toward a sociocultural approach to computerized dynamic assessment of the TOEFL iBT listening comprehension test . This study addressed the impact of computerised dynamic assessment (C-DA) on the TOEFL iBT listening comprehension test administered to Iranian EFL learners who took part in preparation courses on the TOEFL exam in some language centres in Iran. To mediate the test-takers with hints to process the listening questions, a computer software program was developed, and it was meant to produce: actual, mediated, and learning potential scores. Findings of the study indicated that the actual and mediated scores led to significantly different mean scores in various listening ability levels in almost all question types.

In their paper: Responsive student model in an intelligent tutoring system and its evaluation , Hoang Tieu Binh (Hanoi National University of Education, Vietnam), Nguyen Quang Trung (Vietnam Youth Academy, Hanoi, Vietnam) and Bui The Duy (VNU University of Engineering and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam) introduce a new student responsive model to support students who use an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) as an E-Learning tool. They propose a weighted-based model to estimate and suggest learning materials for students who are pursuing a computer-based course. They have built a brand new ITS called WinITS with threir proposed responsive student model and deployed it in Hanoi National University of Education-Vietnam (HNUE) in the second semester of the school year 2019–2020 with a computer science course.

An ontology-based hybrid e-learning content recommender system for alleviating the cold-start problem is from Joy Jeevamol and V. G. Renumol (Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, India). They note that an e-learning recommender system (RS) aims to generate personalised recommendations based on learner preferences and goals. The existing RSs in the e-learning domain still exhibit drawbacks due to inability to consider the learner characteristics in the recommendation process. This paper deals with the new user cold-start problem, which is a major drawback in e-learning content RSs.

This issue contains articles from researchers in the following countries: Australia, China, Croatia, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Malawi, Malaysia, México, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, United Arab Emirates, USA and Vietnam.

Dedicated, professional reviewers are an essential part of any research journal and EAIT is fortunate to have some excellent reviewers. We do, however, have a problem. We do not have enough reviewers! In 2020 we had over 1300 submissions to the journal (288 articles were published), and in the first six months of 2021 we have received 1100 submissions. This means a huge effort for our present number of reviewers. We need more people to register as reviewers and we encourage readers to consider registering and inviting their colleagues also to register. To do this, all you need to do is to go to the EAIT Editorial Manager ( https://www.editorialmanager.com/eait/default.aspx ) and click on Register Now.

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Editorial: EAIT 21 − 7 (August 2022)

• Published: 19 August 2022
• Volume 27 , pages 8905–8919, ( 2022 )

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Education and Information Technologies (EAIT) is a research journal that covers the complex relationships between information and Communication Technologies and Education. EAIT is the official journal of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), Technical Committee on Education (TC3)

The journal is embedded in the research and practice of professionals and is accepted into the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) in the category ‘Education & Educational Research’, with an Impact Factor (2021) of 3.666. EAIT is now in the top quartile (Q1) of journals in Education & Educational Research.

To begin this issue comes an article from: Yonghai Zhu (Capital Normal University, Beijing, China), Shengmei Xu and Wenguang Wang (Chizhou University, Chizhou, China), Li Zhang (Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China), Di Liu, Ziling Liu and Yingying Xu (Capital Normal University, Beijing, China): The impact of Online and Offline Learning motivation on learning performance: the mediating role of positive academic emotion . Learning performance is an important indicator of online learning, say the authors. It is related to the quality of online education and the performance of students. This study explored the mediating effect of positive academic emotions on college students’ online learning motivation and online learning performance, as well as the differences in mediating effects under online learning and offline learning methods.

Adoption, use and enhancement of virtual learning during COVID19 is an article by Munyaradzi Zhou (Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe), Canicio Dzingirai and Kudakwashe Hove (University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia), Tavengwa Chitata and Raymond Mugandani (Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe). This study focuses on the uses of digital technology during teaching and learning. It considers the preparedness, adoption, and use of virtual learning. Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, and Social Influence were confirmed to be positive predictors of the Behavioural Intention (BI) to use technology. Facilitating Conditions is a non-significant construct of BI.

A sustainable University: Digital Transformation and Beyond is by Mohamed Ashmel Mohamed Hashim (Westford University College, Sharjah, UAE), Issam Tlemsani (The Centre for International Business, London, UK) and Robin Duncan Matthews (Kingston University London, RANPA Moscow, LSC, UK). Universities focus on digital transformation strategy to stay competitive in global education. Staying competitive is taking on quite a different meaning in the 21st century: it includes the long-term implications of Covid-19, the interaction of politics and economics, the emergence of China as a superpower, the end of neoliberalism, the emergence of distributed autonomous organisations particularly in the area of research and education. This paper critically examines the need and the association between sustainable digital transformation and its impact in the universities.

Renli Li (Zhengzhou Sias University, Zhengzhou, China) then offers: Chinese folk music: Study and dissemination through online learning courses . The use of online learning courses can have a positive effect for the study and dissemination of Chinese folk music. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative teaching model of massive open online courses (MOOC) to assess the possibility of changes in the approaches to the study of Chinese folk music in higher education. The students noted that working on MOOC platforms helped them better master performance skills. They also appreciated the fact that online courses with developed curricula can be an effective means of popularizing Chinese culture.

Knowledge of university teachers on the use of digital resources to assist people with disabilities. The case of Spain describes work by José María FernándezBatanero, Julio CaberoAlmenara, Pedro RománGraván and Antonio PalaciosRodríguez (University of Seville, Spain). They point out that integration of ICT in the context of higher education and in the framework of an education in equality and equity requires a competent teaching staff both from a technological and pedagogical point of view. In this context, and with the aim of going deeper into one of these theoretical premises, this study aimed to identify the degree of training and technological knowledge of university teaching staff in the faculties of education in Spain regarding use of ICT to support people with disabilities.

Annually in Mauritius, only a few Special Educational Needs (SEN) and especially Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students manage to get a passing mark in French language at elementary level, and Gwendoline Laurissa Chan and Mohammad Issack Santally (University of Mauritius, Moka, Mauritius) and Jack Whitehead (University of Cumbria, Carlisle, UK) elaborate on this in: Gamification as technology enabler in SEN and DHH education . Literature suggests that there are few French language learning tools connected with pedagogical knowledge and technological tools suitable for those children. The rationale behind this paper is to show how gamification of French learning resources can positively affect SEN and especially DHH students’ understanding and level of achievement in the language.

A multidimensional perspective on instructional designbased ICT integration: A case study is a paper by Denizer Yildirim (Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey), Hatice Çirali Sarica and Yasemin Usluel (Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey), that aims to implement an exemplary instructional design-based ICT integration to allow students to acquire both course achievement and knowledge society skills. The participants were students of the Science and Technology course at 7th grade in a state school, along with a teacher and two mentor researchers. During the application process, the researchers asked to prepare a video from students. Video content was associated with course outcomes. The findings showed that students’ course achievement had improved significantly.

Prediction of an educational institute learning environment using machine learning and data mining . This article comes from: Muhammad Shoaib (CECOS University of IT and Emerging Sciences, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan), Nasir Sayed (Islamia College Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan), Nedra Amara (Higher Education Department, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan), Abdul Latif (Islamia College Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan), Sikandar Azam (Higher Education Department, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) and Sajjad Muhammad (University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan). They point out that technology and data analysis have evolved into a resource-rich tool for collecting, researching, and comparing student achievement levels in the classroom, and that there are sufficient resources to discover student success through data analysis by routinely collecting extensive data on student behaviour and curriculum structure. This study looks at how technology and data mining are used in the Educational Data Mining (EDM) environment and compare the results.

Shenghuan Zhao, Qiang Pan, Deyuan Gao and Jiqiu Cheng (Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Jiangsu, China): Integrating internet of things and mixed reality to teach performancebased architectural design: a case study of shading devices . Performance-based architectural design pursues building performance objectives like energy efficiency to guide design decisions, but these informed decisions are usually made according to performance simulation software results, which are quite effort-consuming and tedious. The authors have developed a digital platform by coupling Internet of Things (IoT) and Mixed Reality (MR) which enables students to intuitively observe spatio-temporal illuminance fluctuation when manually modifying the physical shading device model.

The next study, Unplugged versus pluggedin: examining basic programming achievement and computational thinking of 6thgrade students , by Elif Polat (Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey) and Rabia Meryem Yilmaz (Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey), aimed to compare the effects of unplugged and plugged-in activities on academic achievement and computational thinking (CT) skills of sixth-grade students. An intervention was designed on a selection/construction of activities from seven different basic programming web platforms for the plugged-in group and the proposed national curriculum unplugged activities for the other group. The results showed significant differences between groups in academic achievement favouring the unplugged activities, but not in CT skills. Development in CT skills contributed to the unplugged group’s academic achievement. In addition, qualitative results showed that the plugged-in group perceived their activities as fun and entertaining, but not exactly like a lesson. In contrast, the unplugged group did not experience anxiety or boredom since they perceived the activities as educational.

Training through simulation in neonatology relies on sophisticated simulation devices that give realistic feedback to trainees during simulated scenarios. It aims at training highly specialised medical teams in established operational skills, timely clinical manoeuvres, and successful synergy with other professionals, say Gianpaolo Coro (Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell’Informazione “A. Faedo”, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy), Serena Bardelli and Armando Cuttano (Centro di Formazione e Simulazione Neonatale, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, Italy) and Nicoletta Fossati (St George’s University Hospitals, London, UK) in their article: Automatic detection of potentially ineffective verbal communication for training through simulation in neonatology . For effective teaching, it is essential to tailor simulation to trainees’ emotional status and communication abilities (human factors), which in turn affect their interaction with the equipment, the environment, and the rest of the team. In this study, they present an automatic workflow that supports training through simulation in neonatology by automatically detecting dialogue segments of a simulation session with potentially ineffective communication between team members due to anger, stress, fear, or misunderstandings.

Analyzing student aspirations factors affecting elearning system success using a structural equation model is from Adel Bessadok (King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). E-learning system success factors identification is of major interest in higher education and understanding the role of students’ aspirations factor affecting the success of the e-learning system is a challenge for most educational institutions. This study aimed to analyse the effects of students’ aspirations factors in ensuring the success of the e-learning system through a developed research model extended from the integrated updated Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and the DeLone and McLean Information System Success Model.

Valdemar Švábenský, Jan Vykopal, Pavel Čeleda, Kristián Tkáčik and Daniel Popovič (Masaryk University, Czech Republic) then present: Student assessment in cybersecurity training automated by pattern mining and clustering . Hands-on cybersecurity training allows students and professionals to practice various tools and improve their technical skills, and training occurs in an interactive learning environment that enables completing sophisticated tasks in full-fledged operating systems, networks, and applications. During the training, the learning environment allows collecting data about trainees’ interactions with the environment, such as their usage of command-line tools. This paper explores a dataset from cybersecurity training sessions using data mining and machine learning techniques.

Distance Education among Italian Teachers: Differences and Experiences was contributed by Laura Menabò (University of Bologna, Italy), Grace Skrzypiec (Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia), Alessandra Sansavini (University of Bologna, Italy), Antonella Brighi (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy) and Annalisa Guarini (University of Bologna, Italy). The successful integration of technology in teaching is a key component of education. Although prior research highlighted factors fostering the use of technology by teachers, few studies focused on whether these factors vary among teachers of different grade levels and subjects. To address these gaps, this mixed-method study sought to examine whether factors promoting distance education varied among Italian teachers of different grade levels and subjects.

The perceptions of social media users of digital detox apps considering personality traits is from Vinh T. Nguyen (TNU - University of Information and Communication Technology and FPT University, Vietnam) whose aim was to investigate the perceptions of users about using digital detox applications and to display relationships among personality traits and technology-related variables. The study was designed using survey approach and employed Generalized Structured Component Analysis (GSCA). The results of the study indicated that behavioural intention predicted usage behaviour significantly. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence positively affected behavioural intention; in turn, agreeableness and extroversion positively influenced performance expectancy, and extroversion affected effort expectancy; finally, neuroticism had a statistically significant and negatively associated with effort expectancy of using social media detox apps.

Serious game design model for language learning in the cultural context is by Kashif Ishaq, Fadhilah Rosdi and Nor Azan Mat Zin (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia) and Adnan Abid (University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan). Mobile applications and games have been developed for learning languages like many other domains. This research presents a theoretical model for designing language learning games in a cultural context. The proposed model combines the elements of sociocultural theory with the concepts and elements of gamification, keeping in view the requirements and educational settings, including level and mode of education, etc., to ensure the effectiveness and usability of the developed game.

Determinants affecting teachers’ adoption of AIbased applications in EFL context: An analysis of analytic hierarchy process is by Yunfei Du and Han Gao (Chongqing University of Technology, China) who note that artificial Intelligence (AI) has been exerting a revolutionary and profound impact on the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for decades. To facilitate the proper use and produce an instrument in AI-based applications selection for EFL teachers, this study attempts to identify and assess factors affecting teachers’ adoption based on technology acceptance theories. It proposes a multi-criteria decision-making model under the framework of the value-based adoption model (VAM), which comprises four main factors and ten sub-factors adopted from prior studies.

Baranova Tatiana, Aleksandra Kobicheva, Elena Tokareva and Dmitriy Mokhorov (Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg, Russia) then offer: The relationship between students’ psychological security level, academic engagement and performance variables in the digital educational environment . In connection with the situation with COVID-19 almost all universities in the world were transferred to e-learning format, therefore new factors started to influence academic engagement and performance. Psychological security is one of these factors. Many researchers have studied the importance of psychological security level among students, some of them proposing a methodology for assessing the indicator. Nevertheless, there are few studies that demonstrate the relationship between psychological security level of students and their academic engagement and performance. The aim of this study was to close this scientific gap.

Learners’ satisfaction with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has been evaluated through quantitative approaches focusing on survey-based methods in several studies, and Mehrbakhsh Nilashi (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia and UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Rabab Ali Abumalloh (Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia), Masoumeh Zibarzani (Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran), Sarminah Samad (Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), Waleed Abdu Zogaan (Jazan University, Saudi Arabia), Muhammed Yousoof Ismail (Dhofar University, Salalah, Oman), Saidatulakmal Mohd (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia and Dhofar University, Salalah, Oman) and Noor Adelyna Mohammed Akib (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia) elaborate on this in: What Factors Influence Students Satisfaction in Massive Open Online Courses? Findings from UserGenerated Content Using Educational Data Mining . User-Generated Content (UGC) has been an effective approach to assess users’ interactions with e-learning systems. This study aimed to explore learners’ levels of satisfaction with MOOCs by presenting a new hybrid approach for Educational Data Mining (EDM) that combines both machine learning and survey-based methodologies.

Examining academic performance through ANT towards RPA-based system in South Africa is by Denise Lakay and Tiko Iyamu (Cape peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa). Despite the numerous support systems, academic performances in many South African higher institutions continue to experience challenges while some are declining in throughputs. Some of the support mechanisms seem to be black boxed, notwithstanding the deteriorating situation. The factors that influence dwindling performance are unknown. This study, therefore, explores the effect of black boxing the support provided in the institutions, towards finding a long-lasting remedy to the challenges, through information technology solutions such as the robotic automated process (RPA). The relationship and interaction between human and non-human actors over ten years were traced. Despite the declining rate of academic performance, supports are stable and reliable in many institutions. Such stability is associated with black boxing from an actor-network theory (ANT) perspective.

Ünal Çakiroğlu and İsak Çevik (Trabzon University, SöğütlüAkçaabat, Trabzon, Turkey) next offer: A framework for measuring abstraction as a subskill of computational thinking in blockbased programming environments . To teach Computational Thinking (CT) skills to young students, BlockBased Programming Environments (BBPEs) are integrated into secondary school computer science (CS) education curricula. As a CT skill, abstraction is one of the prominent skills which is difficult to enhance and measure. Researchers developed some scales for measuring abstraction in BBPEs; however, it is still quite difficult to measure abstraction and understand students’ abstraction behaviours. The aim of this study was to suggest tasks that could help enhance students’ abstraction skills while teaching CT via block-based programming.

In the next article, the researchers Mohd Fadzil Abdul Hanid (Johor State Education Department, Johor Bahru, Malaysia), Mohd Nihra Haruzuan Mohamad Said, Norafandy Yahaya and Zaleha Abdullah (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia) conducted a study that considers: Effects of augmented reality application integration with computational thinking in geometry topics . Three variables were measured, Computational Thinking, Visualisation Skills and Geometry Topic achievement. The results showed that there is a positive effect of teaching methods using Augmented Reality applications with Computational Thinking for students in the improvement of Computational Thinking, Visualisation Skills and Geometry Topic achievement.

Design of an instrument to assess students’ perception of learning objects in statistics is an article by Ricardo Monge-Rogel, Guillermo Durán-González and Mónica Panes-Martínez (Universidad de Las Américas, Santiago, Chile and Centro Universitario CIFE, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México) and Luis Gibran Juárez-Hernández (Centro Universitario CIFE, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México). Digital Learning Resources (DLR) are tools that allow a better understanding of the contents for students. It is therefore necessary to have an instrument that allows to assess the perception on this type of learning object and identify the contribution they have in the teaching-learning process in higher education students. In their study an instrument consisting of 32 items and three dimensions, was constructed to evaluate the perception of the DLR used in a statistics subject.

Nomophobia among Preservice Teachers: a descriptive correlational study at Ghanaian Colleges of Education comes from Harry Barton Essel (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana), Dimitrios Vlachopoulos (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands), Akosua Tachie-Menson, Francis Kofi Nimo Nunoo and Esi Eduafua Johnson (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana). This study aimed at investigating nomophobia prevalence, thus, recurrence of anxiety without a smartphone, with preservice teachers in the Colleges of Education, Ghana. The results evidenced that the vast majority of preservice teachers had mild to severe nomophobia, and their most significant anxiety was related to access to information and communication.

Nadine Mandran (Grenoble Alpes Université, France), Mathieu Vermeulen and Estelle Prior (IMT Lille Douai, France) then present: THEDRE’s Framework: Empowering PhD Candidates to Efficiently Implement DesignBased Research . This article presents a method to help PhD candidates in the implementation of Design-Based Research (DBR). It focuses on a process and a set of guides designed to accompany doctoral candidates in the different stages of their thesis. It also proposes a tenth principle concerning the definition of indicators used to drive the thesis. The results obtained showed that the guides allow doctoral students to structure their reflections and better manage their thesis work.

The need for a knowledge-based society has perpetuated an increasing demand for higher education around the globe, say Mohammed Naseem, Kaylash Chaudhary and Bibhya Sharma (The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji) in their article: Predicting Freshmen Attrition in Computing Science using Data Mining . The enrolment numbers in Computer Science undergraduate programmes are usually high, but unfortunately, many of these students drop out from, or abscond these programmes, leading to a shortage of Computer Science professionals in the job market. In this paper, data mining techniques were used to build predictive models that can identify student dropout in Computer Science programmes, more specifically focusing on freshmen attrition since a significant number of dropouts occur in the first year of university studies.

Effect of interactive multimedia e-books on lower secondary school students’ curiosity in a Science course was written by: Herianto, Insih Wilujeng and Diah Puji Lestari (Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia). Curiosity is a form of intrinsic motivation that plays an important role in student success in school. This study examined the effect of using interactive multimedia e-books on lower-secondary school students’ curiosity in a science course. The results showed that there was a significant difference in student curiosity between students who used interactive multimedia e-books and students who used printed textbooks.

Alanood Abdulaziz, Makhmoor Bashir and Abdulaziz Abdulmohsen Alfalih (Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia) then offer: The impact of work-life balance and work overload on teacher’s organizational commitment: do Job Engagement and Perceived Organizational support matter? The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of work-life balance and work overload on teacher’s organisational commitment, noting the mediating role of job engagement and the moderating effect of perceived organizational support.

Mobileassisted language learning in Chinese higher education context: a systematic review from the perspective of the situated learning theory comes from Fan Li, Si Fan and Yanjun Wang (University of Tasmania, Australia). Recent years have witnessed numerous systematic investigations on mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). However, very few research synthesis studies focused on the higher education context in mainland China. This paper provides a systematic review of the findings of 23 studies published between 2015 and 2020 in mainland China.

Potential predictors of student attainment: A longitudinal study at global level is by: Funda Erdogdu (Kutahya Dumlupinar University, Turkey). In the reported study, using panel data from the last five PISA cycles and data on various institutional variables, the role of ICT resources, parents’ occupation, school characteristics, and institutions in student attainment was explored. The data were collected from 2.5 million students in 94 countries/economies representing more than 140 million students worldwide.

The online remote learning revolution in the era of the pandemic has resulted in the massive explosion of videoconferencing technologies, and Ryan Michael F. Oducado, Ma. Asuncion Christine V. Dequilla and Joselito F. Villaruz (West Visayas State University, Iloilo City, La Paz, Philippines) discuss this in: Factors predicting videoconferencing fatigue among higher education faculty . This study examined this among higher education faculty in the Philippines. For better videoconferencing experience among faculty, mechanisms to ease fatigue during virtual meetings are proposed based on the study result.

Educational Technology Adoption: A systematic review is from Andrina Granić (University of Split, Croatia), who notes that during the past decades a number and variety of theoretical perspectives and practical approaches have been advanced for studying determinants for prediction and explanation of user’s behaviour towards acceptance and adoption of educational technology. Aiming to identify the most prominent factors affecting and reliably predicting successful educational technology adoption, this systematic review offers succinct account of technology adoption and acceptance theories and models related to and widely applied in educational research.

An exploration into the impact of augmented reality on EFL learners’ Reading comprehension . This next study, by Saman Ebadi and Fateme Ashrafabadi (Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran) investigated how Augmented Reality (AR) impacted EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners’ reading comprehension and attitudes toward utilizing AR. The findings indicated that the experimental group (utilizing AR) showed a significantly higher reading comprehension level than the control group.

Learners can interact and connect with one another in new ways thanks to social media says Nasser Alalwan (King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) in Actual use of social media for engagement to enhance students’ learning . The reported study employs two models to investigate the factors that contribute to students’ involvement in order to improve their learning: constructivism and the technology acceptance model (TAM). The research objective was to create a model of real use of social media for engagement by conducting an empirical examination into students’ adoption of actual use of social media for education.

Jessica R. Simon (Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA) and Jason G. Randall (University at Albany, NY, USA) then present: Predictors and consequences of typical and “addictive” LMS use . Today’s learners rely heavily on learning management systems (LMS) to access and submit coursework, receive feedback, interact with others, and track progress and this study moves past the question of whether to use LMS, to uncover how LMS use affects learners. They drew on motivational theories of goal orientation to predict how frequently learners check their LMS, and to examine whether the use of LMS, including addictive cognitive and behavioural tendencies, would affect learning and stress outcomes.

Facebook/Meta usage in higher education: A deep learningbased dualstage SEMANN analysis describes an investigation by Yakup Akgül and Ali Osman Uymaz (Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Kestel, Turkey). The main aim of the research was to investigate and predict major factors in students’ behavioural intentions toward academic use of Facebook/Meta as a virtual classroom, taking into account its adoption level, purpose, and education usage. In contrast to earlier social network research, this one utilized a novel technique that comprised a two-phase analysis and an upcoming Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analysis approach known as deep learning was engaged to sort out relatively significant predictors acquired from Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).

Kate Tzu Ching Chen (Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan) then presents: Speech-to-text recognition in University English as a Foreign Language Learning . This study explored the potential of adopting speech-to-text recognition (STR) technology for English as a foreign language (EFL) oral training in class at the university level. The results indicated that the STR app tasks were effective in increasing students’ English-speaking ability and students expressed positive attitudes toward the use of the tasks in the STR app.

Comprehensive evaluation of the use of technology in education – validation with a cohort of global open online learners comes from Jennifer W. M. Lai, John De Nobile, Matt Bower and Yvonne Breyer (Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia). They note that although a large variety of methodologies, contexts and perspectives have been used to examine educational application of technology, there is a paucity of instruments that are designed to comprehensively evaluate this. This paper presents a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of an instrument that incorporates eight key dimensions: learning, affective, behavioural, technology, design, pedagogy, presence/community, and institutional environment.

The purpose of the next study: A machine learning enabled affective Elearning system model by Xinyang Liu and Saeid Pourroostaei Ardakani (University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Zhejiang, China) is to propose an e-learning system model for learning content personalisation based on students’ emotions. The proposed system collects learners’ brainwaves using a portable Electroencephalogram and processes them via a supervised machine learning algorithm, named K-nearest neighbours (KNN), to recognise real-time emotional status.

Education worldwide has emphasized 21st century competencies, including language competence, computer competence, and thinking skills says Amber Yayin Wang (National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan) in: Understanding levels of technology integration: A TPACK scale for EFL teachers to promote 21st century learning . Research on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and essential teacher knowledge, has attempted to address the need for technology integration to support thinking skills. Existing TPACK assessments have not intended to help teachers understand the levels of technology integration in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). This study proposed a two-dimensional TPACK scale, allowing EFL teachers to assess their TPACK in integrating technology and thinking skills.

Assessment of students’ digital competences in primary school: a systematic review is an article by Eline Godaert (Ghent University, Belgium), Koen Aesaert (Educational Effectiveness and Evaluation, KU Leuven, Belgium), Joke Voogt (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Johan van Braak (Ghent University, Belgium). Although there is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of being digitally competent today, there have been few empirical investigations into the assessment of primary school students’ digital competences. This study presents a systematic review of the empirical research on the assessment of primary school students’ digital competences.

In search of a measure to address different sources of cognitive load in computerbased learning environments , is by: Onur Dönmez (Ege University, İzmir, Turkey), Yavuz Akbulut (Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Ankara, Turkey), Esra Telli (Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Ankara, Turkey), Miray Kaptan and İbrahim H. Özdemir (Ege University, İzmir, Turkey) and Mukaddes Erdem (Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey). In this study, the researchers aimed to develop a reliable and valid scale to address individual cognitive load types. Through a multistep correlational study, they propose a three-factor scale with 13 items to address intrinsic, extraneous and germane cognitive load in computer-based learning environments.

Blended learning combines face-to-face instruction and online learning experiences, and Mohialdeen Alotumi (Sana’a University, Yemen) discusses this in: Factors influencing graduate students’ behavioural intention to use Google Classroom: Case studymixed methods research . Blended learning capitalises on online learning management systems, one of which is Google Classroom (GC), but empirical investigations have mirrored literature gaps in understanding how the GC platform affects students’ behavioural intention to harness it for web-based learning. This case study applied a modified version of the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) as a theoretical underpinning to examine factors influencing graduate students’ behavioural intention to utilize the GC platform.

Remediating textbook deficiencies by leveraging community question answers by Krishnendu Ghosh (Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, India) presents a method for recommending augmentations against conceptual gaps in textbooks. Question Answer (QA) pairs from community question-answering (cQA) forums are noted to offer precise and comprehensive illustrations of concepts. Their proposed method retrieves QA pairs for a target concept to suggest two types of augmentations: basic and supplementary.

Livinus Obiora Nweke (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway and Norof Accelerate, Oslo, Norway), Anthony Jnr Bokolo (Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), Halden, Norway), Gibson Mba (Foretrust Digital Consulting, Enugu, Nigeria) and Emeka Nwigwe (Assiniboine Credit Union, Winnipeg, Canada) present: Investigating the effectiveness of a HyFlex cyber security training in a developing country: A case study . HyFlex termed as hybrid-fexibility is a teaching approach where teachers and students have the alternative to participate in planned courses either remotely or face-to-face. This study examines the effectiveness of the HyFlex pedagogical method to teach highly interactive digital and face-to-face cyber security training in Nigeria amidst the pandemic.

Trends and Issues in MOOC Learning Analytics Empirical Research: A Systematic Literature Review (2011–2021) from Meina Zhu (Wayne State University, Detroit, USA), Annisa R. Sari (Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia and Indiana University, Bloomington, USA) and Mimi Miyoung Lee (University of Houston, TX, USA) notes that learning analytics (LA) is a growing research trend and has recently been used in research and practices in massive open online courses (MOOCs). This systematic review of 166 articles from 2011 to 2021 synthesizes the trends and critical issues of LA in MOOCs. The eight-step process proposed by Okoli and Schabram was used to guide this systematic review in analysing: publication outlets, research purposes and methods, stakeholders, and researchers’ geographic locations, and subjects.

Xiaodong Zhang (Beijing Foreign Studies University, China) then writes on: Demystifying the challenges of university students’ web-based learning: A qualitative case study . Many studies have reported the affordances of students’ engagement in web-based learning, but few have used a qualitative approach to investigating students’ challenges with this type of learning over time. This study used the qualitative case study method to explore the challenges of university students with web-based learning in one semester. The data were collected from interviews with and reflections and field notes of students in an English reading class in a university in China.

Teachers’ beliefs and practices of technology integration at a school for students with dyslexia: A mixed methods study by Holli Bice and Hengtao Tang (University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA) begins by noting that the amount of technology available in schools has increased steadily over the past two decades, but higher-level uses have not followed, and many teachers continue to struggle integrating technology in their classrooms. The purpose of this study was to describe teachers’ beliefs about technology in the classroom and identify whether their beliefs are reflected in practices of integrating technology at a small, private school for students with dyslexia.

The next study: Gamification in education: A scientometric, content and cooccurrence analysis of systematic review and metaanalysis articles is by Somayyeh NadiRavandi and Zahra Batooli (Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran). Scientometrics is the field of study which concerns itself with measuring and analysing scholarly literature. This article seeks scientometric, content and co-occurrence analysis of systematic review and Meta-analysis articles in the field of gamification in education.

This paper: An appraisal of students’ adoption of e-learning communication tools: a SEM analysis examined the adoption and usage of e-learning communication tools by Mass Communication students at selected privately-owned Nigerian universities. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) was the theoretical lens that guided the study. The authors were: Eze Ogemdi Uchenna and Nwabunze Uzoma Oluchukwu (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria). The results of the study supported the original UTAUT theory where performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence significantly predicted behavioural intentions.

Exploring factors affecting the adoption of MOOC in Generation Z using extended UTAUT2 model is an article by: Rakesh Kumar Meet (Doon Business School, Dehradun, India and University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, India), Devkant Kala (University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, India) and Ahmad Samed AlAdwan (Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Jordan). The advent of the Internet heralded the rise of scalable educational technology dubbed as massive open online course (MOOC). Easy to use, access, and economical as well as flexible, these provide students the advantage of self-paced learning. Despite all these merits, MOOC adoption is low in the higher educational institutions (HEIs) of India. The aim of this study was to explore the factors affecting the behavioural intention to adopt MOOCs among Generation Z enrolled in the Indian HEIs. The study used the extended UTAUT2 model with additional constructs of language competency and teacher influence to explore this MOOC adoption.

Zhang Yuting, Donnie Adams and Kenny Cheah Soon Lee (University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) next present: The relationship between technology leadership and teacher ICT competency in higher education . Ever-changing educational technology brings new challenges and opportunities in higher education and to keep up with the trends of the digital era when technology integration is emphasized as one key feature, university leaders should take technology-related responsibilities on motivating and cooperating with teachers to achieve effective technology integration. This study applies descriptive-correlational design to investigate the relationship between university leaders’ and teachers’ technological behaviours and practices.

Realistic visualizations are abundantly used in digital education, but the use of realism is still thought to risk a cognitive overload due to excessive details says Alexander Skulmowski (Karlsruhe University of Education, Germany) in: Is there an optimum of realism in computergenerated instructional visualizations? It is still not precisely known, however, whether there is an optimal level of realism that most benefits learners. In two experimental studies, different versions of anatomical visualizations were compared regarding their effects on retention performance and the subjective cognitive load experienced during learning.

The contribution of distress factors and Coping Resources to the motivation to use ICT among adults with intellectual disability during COVID-19 is from the following researchers in Israel: Hefziba Lifshitz (Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel), Ayelet Gur (Tel-Hai College, Qiryat Shemona, Israel), Shlomit Shnitzer-Meirovitz (Levinski College of Educationy, Tel-Aviv, Israel) and Sigal Eden (Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel). Their study focused on people with intellectual disability (ID), who have unique disadvantages that place them at greater risk for negative outcomes due to COVID-19. The study goals were three-fold: (a) To examine whether differences in distress factors (loneliness and stress) would be found between adults with ID who used the Zoom application during the pandemic, and those who did not; (b) To examine whether differences in psychological and coping resources (psychological capital), and practical-technological resources (attitudes and motivation to use information communication technology) would be found between the groups; (c) To examine the contribution of background variables (gender, type of residence, Zoom use), distress factors and psychological and practical technological coping resources on the motivation to use technology.

The roles of mobile app perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in appbased Chinese and English learning flow and satisfaction describes research by Aitao Lu and Ruchen Deng (Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China and South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China), Yingshi Huang (South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China), Tianhua Song and Yunhong Shen (Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China and South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China), Zhiling Fan (South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China) and Jijia Zhang (Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China). With the popularity of mobile devices, people are increasingly trying to learn a second language using mobile applications (apps), and this study examined language learners’ perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of mobile learning apps in relation to language learning flow and satisfaction.

The following article comes from a large number of researchers from Japan. A webbased survey of educational opportunities of medical professionals based on changes in conference design during the COVID19 pandemic was authored by: Kenta Yagi, Yasutaka Sato and Satoshi Sakaguchi (Tokushima University Hospital, Japan), Mitsuhiro Goda (Tokushima University Hospital, Japan and University of Tokushima Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan), Hirofumi Hamano and Fuka Aizawa (Tokushima University Hospital, Japan), Mayuko Shimizu (University of Tokushima Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan), Arisa InoueHamano (Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan), Toshihide Nishimori (Tokushima University Hospital, Japan), Masato Tagi (Tokushima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan), Marina Kanno, Rie MatsuokaAndo, Toshihiko Yoshioka and Yoshiko Matstubara (Tokushima University Hospital, Japan), Yuki IzawaIshizawa (University of Tokushima Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan), Rieko Shimizu (Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital, Japan), Akinori Maruo (Okayama University Hospital, Japan), Yurika Kuniki, Yoshika Sakamoto and Sayuri Itobayashi (University of Tokushima Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan), Yoshito Zamami (University of Tokushima Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan and Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan), Hiroaki Yanagawa (Tokushima University Hospital, Japan) and Keisuke Ishizawa (Tokushima University Hospital, Japan and University of Tokushima Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan). They point out that owing to the coronavirus disease pandemic, understanding how to hold future online academic conferences effectively has become imperative. The authors assessed the impact of COVID-19 on academic conferences, including facilities and settings for attendance, participation status, cost burden, and preferences for future styles of holding conferences through a web-based questionnaire survey of 2,739 Japanese medical professionals, from December 2020 to February 2021.

Learning with the interactive whiteboard in the classroom: Its impact on vocabulary acquisition, motivation and the role of foreign language anxiety comes from Tim Kühl (University of Mannheim and University of Potsdam, Germany) and Patrizia Wohninsland (Lithuanian High School, Lampertheim, Germany). When used in a sensible way, Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) are supposed to motivate and engage students in learning in the classroom and perhaps also stimulate students who are usually more restrained, such as more anxious students. The body of research on the impact of IWB lessons is, however, small. This study investigated whether a 45-minute lesson with the IWB compared to a conceptual identical 45-minute lesson without the IWB would support learning and motivation within the subject English as a foreign language for German students.

Marion Händel, Svenja Bedenlier, Bärbel Kopp, Michaela GläserZikuda, Rudolf Kammerl and Albert Ziegler (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany) then write on: The webcam and student engagement in synchronous online learning: visually or verbally? Given that video conferencing serves as a crucial means for remote teaching, their study investigated higher education students’ (non)use of webcams and engagement in synchronous online courses. Three phases were studied: (1) A state of engagement; (2) antecedents that influence it; and (3) consequences of engagement.

The last paper in this issue is by Osman Aktan (Duzce University, Turkey) and Çetin Toraman (Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey): The relationship between Technostress levels and job satisfaction of Teachers within the COVID-19 period . Their research aimed to determine the technostress levels experienced by teachers in distance education during the COVID-19 period and examine the relationship between this technostress level and job satisfaction. The research was structured in relational comparison type. The attendees comprised 525 teachers working at different echelons of education, determined in accordance with the purposive sampling method. Technostress Scale, job satisfaction scale, and open-ended questions form were used as data collection tools during the research.

Articles in this issue come from researchers in: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Fiji, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritius, México, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, UK, United Arab Emirates, USA, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

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Tatnall, A. Editorial: EAIT 21 − 7 (August 2022). Educ Inf Technol 27 , 8905–8919 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11264-5

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