The chapter examines the concept of fun, specifically the contradiction that "serious" learning and positive affect, the fancy way of saying fun, are incompatible in and around the classroom. Despite the fact that pedagogies considered fun are often unique, highly interactive, and impactful; the fun descriptor is perceived as a badge of…

As technologies continue to develop and evolve, it is imperative that instructional technologists, learning scientists, and educators involved with examining learning affordances of emerging technologies investigate the potential of innovative environments to promote and facilitate learning. This paper, as such, will describe a newly developed…

How can teachers boost motivation and interest in writing when a student has disengaged from writing? This article looks at the case of a student with sensory and social challenges who lost interest in writing. Possible reasons for the loss of interest are explored through the elements that contribute to motivation for learning and for writing.…

In December 2017, an article in "Communiqué" on online education in school psychology training provided a primer on key concepts and terminology (Dixon, 2017). The authors continue their discussion of online education in this article by focusing on the application of online learning as a modality to deliver content instruction within…

Comics and cartoons are valued in twenty-first century popular culture and are increasingly used as 'Applied Comics' to help communicate key messages and information in society. However, there is less evidence of cartoons and comics being used to communicate with and engage library users in learning, information literacy (IL) and research support.…

The concept of recipience is emerging within the literature as a useful idea to inform our understanding of student engagement with feedback. In this paper, the applicability of the concept of recipience is broadened from its origins in the literature on student feedback to consider its role in developing student knowledge structures that are more…

For many faculty, Padlet has become an important Web 2.0 tool in face-to-face and online instruction. In this paper, faculty in the College of Business at a large private university located in the Southwestern United States examined best practices in the use of Padlet in the online classroom and explored other ways this Web tool can be used. While…

This paper is analytical and primarily focuses at the individual academic level. It examines the drive for academics to meet narrowly defined key performance indicators that is potentially leading to sub-optimal outcomes such as universities diverging from acting for the wider betterment of society and reduced quality of teaching and learning.…

The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating in terms of the loss of human lives, damage to the economy, and upheavals in the fabric of society. It has also drastically impacted higher education and academic institutions throughout the world. This article analyzes the impact of the pandemic on the higher education industry and its stakeholders;…

This paper reports on the development and piloting of Classmoto, an online application designed to measure learner engagement. The application enables teachers to collect real-time analytics of student social, affective, and cognitive engagement. The results are immediately visible to the teacher. We investigated and reported on the engagement…

Performance of engineering degree students often becomes an important concern for lectures. Using classical teaching methodologies in practical lectures may be behind the problem. The present work develops a couple of innovative student-response-system based methodologies designed to be implemented during engineering practical lessons in higher…

Online education often struggles to maintain a consistent, high quality academic experience. High attrition rates and low student satisfaction continue to challenge higher education providers. We present an innovative public-private partnership that delivers a resources-sufficient model of fully online postgraduate education with high levels of…

Online textbooks allow instructors to provide interactive and engaging activities for students. In this paper, we look at how providing an interactive online textbook is utilized and valued in a beginning computer programming course. In addition, we compare the utilization of the online textbook to the student final course grade. Our findings…

Building on various models for "intercultural and interreligious competence" (IC/IR competence), this essay argues that classroom learning about religious and cultural diversity will engage students' "sociological imaginations" and lead to increased IC/IR competence. The current strategy for increasing intercultural competence…

The National Research Council's 2012 "Framework for K-12 Science Education" states that science education should "provide all students with the background to systematically investigate issues related to their personal and community practices … frame scientific questions pertinent to their interests, conduct investigations and seek…