The adoption by the African Union of its Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection in 2014 represented a step forward to protect personal data and to ensure that data remain private and secure. This is especially important for students, who often have no autonomy in the educational technology they use. Students cannot choose why…

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), such as ChatGPT, has taken the world by storm. ChatGPT attracted 1 million users in 5 days and 100 million users in 2 months since its launch in November 2022. In this first article of a two-part series, we discuss the overall dynamic frontier of GenAI, its potential uses and benefits in education,…

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has continued to advance at a stunning pace since our last publication on GenAI in education in spring 2023. In that first article of a two-part series, we discussed the overall dynamic frontier of GenAI, its potential uses and benefits in education, the essential abilities required in the age of GenAI,…

Open distance e-learning (ODeL) is an essential form of e-learning for students in South Africa. It allows expanded access to higher education for students from rural or socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. One of the key features of ODeL is that students can complete coursework modules virtually, without the need to step onto a physical…

This quantitative study examined self-efficacy as a factor in teachers' technology use and integration efforts in urban K-12 classroom settings of 327 Catholic school teachers in Southern California. This study employed an online survey that utilized the Technology Integration Confidence Scale (TICS) version 3, an instrument developed by the first…

STEM major students often enter colleges with a need to strengthen their foundational mathematics, such as trigonometry. We designed an innovative undergraduate course that aims to strengthen students' trigonometry knowledge application through programming mobile apps. We explored how students applied trigonometry concepts in developing their…

Despite the high demand of careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, the extent and access to focused K-12 STEM education varies across the country. K-12 school libraries with their democratization of resources including both high- and low-/no- tech equipment can fill gaps by implementing makerspaces in the school…

360-degree video (or 360° video) is recorded in an omnidirectional form so that viewers can look in any direction while the video plays. Interest in the application of 360° video has been emerging along with the advancement of lower cost technologies and increase in online video content. Little is known about trends in the emerging research for…

First conceived as spaces stocked with D.I.Y. tools and materials for community members to join together in the activity of making, makerspaces have begun popping up in schools, libraries, universities and museums across the world. The maker mindset summarizes the ideology of the maker movement--a set of values predicated on making, sharing,…

Since 2006, there has been an ever-increasing momentum in computational thinking educational policy initiatives (CTEPI) across the globe. In this paper, the representative CT educational policy initiatives viewed through the lens of international perspectives and cultural contexts were examined, compared and discussed. Reports, white papers, and…

This research identifies six online course evaluation instruments used nationally or in statewide systems. We examined the characteristics (i.e., number of standards and criteria) and coded the criteria that guide the design of online courses. We discussed the focus of the instruments and their unique features.

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the opportunities for developing computational thinking in young learners. It includes a review of empirical studies on the educational technologies used to develop computational thinking in young learners, and analyses and descriptions of a selection of commercially available technologies for…

In this paper, we provide an overview of the current efforts in maker education, supported by a review of empirical studies. Our synthesis will inform the community about learning outcomes, potential and common issues, challenges, resources, and future research direction regarding maker education.