Teaching Machines by journalist Audrey Watters blends the historical and political events of 1920-1960s in the United States and the changes in the K-12 school system, chronicling the rapid development of educational technology markets to show the inception and evolution of teaching machines. The author expresses her indignance towards Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who continue launching educational businesses, under the assumption that their “new” technological breakthrough will change the “stagnant” field of education technology. This book explicates how the “new idea” of personalized learning offered by current educational technology companies and industries dates back a century to the 1920s.

Problem-solving activities have been studied from a diversity of epistemological perspectives. In problem-solving activities, the initial tensions of a problematic situation led to a cognitive dissonance between conflicting motives and instruments to reach the activity goal. We analyze problem-solving in the continuation of Sannino and Laitinen’s (2015) approach to the analysis of a decision-forming apparatus. The originality of this study is in consideration of the materialistic nature of double stimulation that appears during the activity of the CreaCube problem-solving task. This activity engages the participant in solving tasks with interactive robotic instruments. To solve a task, the subject is required to build interactive robotic modules into a specific configuration which will cause the artifact to move from an initial position to a predetermined final position. The conflict of stimuli in the CreaCube is strong and observable because of the tangibility of the artifact, which is manipulated by the participant into different configurations with the goal of solving the task. We discuss double stimulation in relation to the artifactual interactive affordances of educational robotics.

We are pleased to publish the final 2021 issue of CJLT/RCAT which includes five empirical articles and a book review. Articles focus on teacher professional development and the use of technology in teaching and learning in elementary, secondary, and higher education. Collectively, CJLT Volume 47 Issue 3, 2021 brings together research findings from Africa (Tunisia, Kenya, and Nigeria), Asia (India), and Canada in primary, secondary, and higher education. CJLT has supported the advancement of research on teaching and learning with digital technologies in Canada and around the world and will continue to do so in the coming years. We hope that you will find in our journal some answers to the many questions that have arisen from the pedagogical transformations that have been necessary over the past two years to adapt to the pandemic context, and which open the door to pedagogical innovations in the future. We sincerely thank our reviewers for their time in reviewing the manuscripts.

This book is an expanded version of a guide originally written by the lead author, Matt Crosslin, to serve as a resource for faculty. The book shares lessons learned as the author designed Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other online courses for the now defunct LINK Research Lab at University of Texas Arlington. At the time of writing the book, Crosslin worked as a Learning Innovation Researcher at the LINK Lab. This expanded version of the book is an Open Educational Resource (OER) (also available in print) with contributions from other authors or contributors that bring diverse perspectives to reach a wider audience. The information and advice in this book is firmly rooted in the experiences of the contributors developing successful online courses, and the ultimate goal is to “provide clarity about many of the steps required to propose and design a course, describe the resources needed, and to explain the roles of stakeholders” (p.1).

Cette étude pilote a pour objectif de construire une nouvelle épreuve informatisée d’évaluation du vocabulaire en langue Française, destinée aux élèves de primaire. Des tâches à choix multiples mesurant l’étendue (i.e., Image) et la profondeur du vocabulaire (i.e., Synonyme, Définition) ont été administrées à 255 enfants. La rapidité et l’exactitude des réponses ont été enregistrées. Comme attendu, les analyses ont révélé que le niveau scolaire, le genre, et la fréquence lexicale des items impactaient les temps de réponse et/ou réponses correctes. Les performances s’améliorent avec le niveau scolaire et pour les mots fréquents. Les filles semblent avoir un vocabulaire plus riche que celui des garçons (e.g., profondeur) et elles semblent moins sensibles à la fréquence des mots que les garçons. Une analyse des qualités psychométriques de l’épreuve a permis de retenir une épreuve en 36 items ayant une consistance interne satisfaisante. Enfin, une analyse factorielle confirmatoire n’a pas permis de mettre en évidence une structure en deux facteurs du vocabulaire (e.g., profondeur, étendue). Les résultats sont discutés en termes de qualité de représentations lexicales et de choix des tâches.

When students learn online, they do so within a wider context of digital disarray, marked by distraction, disorder and disconnection, which research shows to be far from conducive to effective learning. Specific educational issues include a lack of focus, linked to information overload in an environment characterized by misinformation and disinformation, as well as a lack of connection to the self and others. Arguing that today’s growing focus on digital literacies in education already serves as a partial response to digital disarray, this evidence-based position paper proposes the concept of attentional literacy as a macroliteracy which interweaves elements of now established literacies with the emerging educational discourse of mindfulness. Through attentional literacy, students may gain awareness of how to focus their attention intentionally on the self, the relationship with others, and the informational environment, resulting in a more considered approach to learning coupled with an appreciation of multiple shifting perspectives. Armed with this developing skillset, students stand to benefit more fully from digital educational experiences. Considerations for continuing research in this area include the need to adopt a critical stance on mindfulness, and the need to operationalize attentional literacy for the classroom.

This paper presents findings from a systematic review of 11 studies examining online teacher professional development (oTPD) in Canada between 2000-2020. A thematic content analysis of the articles led to four main themes associated with research on oTPD: 1. knowledge exchange; 2. reflective practice; 3. multifaceted learning opportunities; and 4. just-in-time support. The study contexts, research methods, and other relevant study characteristics are also reviewed and discussed. The results shed light on the current research trends on oTPD in Canada and highlight the need for continued research in this area. Data from diverse research methods across Canada’s geographical regions can contribute to greater insight into the types of oTPD occurring in Canada and how various platforms and professional development opportunities can best support teachers’ professional learning.

The Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP), implemented in a network of eight schools in Catalonia, demonstrates the value of an Innovative Learning Environment (ILE) towards supporting dialogical, technological, and systemic dimensions in teaching and learning. Using a design-based research (DBR) approach, a survey queried teachers, students, and external stakeholders regarding their perceptions about educational innovation. The results provide both the profile and the innovative nature of the whole KBIP experience at each participating school. The main results help illustrate the potential of KBIP methodologies. The findings exemplify the value of this particular DBR method for evaluating educational innovations.

Lors du colloque EDUsummIT 2019, un groupe de travail a mené une réflexion sur l’analyse de l’apprentissage. En tant que membres francophones de ce groupe, nous présentons et discutons dans cet article les recommandations du groupe de travail quant au déploiement de l’analyse de l’apprentissage dans les établissements d’enseignement dans un avenir rapproché. Certains éléments à considérer dans l’intégration de l’analyse de l’apprentissage, dont le rôle des fournisseurs de service, les compétences nécessaires pour interpréter les données et les effets potentiels de telles analyses sur la conception de l’apprentissage, sont abordés.

As digital education at the post-secondary level continues to grow, robust professional development that prepares faculty to teach in online and blended settings is necessary. In this study we analyze open-ended comments from the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association’s annual survey of Canadian post-secondary institutions (2017-2019) to deepen our understanding of faculty training and support for digital education as articulated by higher education institutions. We find that 1) digital education orientation or on-boarding processes for faculty vary widely; 2) institutions employ an extensive array of professional development practices for digital education; 3) institutions report culture change, work security, and unclear expectations as challenges in providing digital education training and support; and 4) institutions articulate aspirations and hopes around professional development investments in order to build digital education capacity. These findings have significant implications for research and practice and we describe these in the article.